Highland Park officials have learned they’ll need to levy $5.2 million for the city’s police and fire pension funds in December and that the unfunded liability in the two funds has swelled to nearly $74 million. According to the new analyses from actuary Timothy Sharpe, the funding ratio in the police fund has dropped from 50 percent to less than 47 percent…. The city also began using new assumptions about life expectancy, retirement rates, disability rates and other variables based on a 2012 publication from the Illinois Department of Insurance. Comment: Note the name of that actuary, Tim Sharpe, which

Chicago Teachers Union executives say their members shouldn’t have to contribute more money to their retirements because of a contract negotiation nearly 35 years ago.

Comment on the broader significance of this: McPier bonds rely in part on funds that flow through state government. Many local bond issues are secured by various revenues that come from the state. Well, S&P has now figured out that those funds are subject to “appropriation risk,” i.e., the whim of the legislature, which will raise questions for many other local bond issues.

This story is getting lots of national coverage.

Comment: Meanwhile, the Federal government reported that monthly carbon emissions from the power sector reached a 27-year low.