Junk-rated Chicago Public Schools will unveil a balanced budget next month to pave the way for the district to replace expiring credit lines and return to the municipal market to raise funds for needed capital work, the district’s leader said Wednesday. Comment: We’ll see if the budget is truly balanced. Expect it to include more can-kicking on the pension, which is to say, hiding losses there.

Chicago’s recently-released annual financial report included a massive increase in new “deferred outflows.”

Alds. Brian Hopkins and Joe Moreno said Tuesday they want to use $100,000 from a Wicker Park/Bucktown taxpayer fund surplus to hire security guards from private firms who can augment the local police force.

While Chicago Public Schools seem to grab the most frequent headlines for financial troubles — the district was unsure it could open its schools for the fall without help from the state — plenty of suburban districts are landing on the state’s financial warning lists. The Illinois State Board of Education reported this year that 61 districts were on the early warning list and 32 were on the watch list, the most serious rating.

Comment: The more unfunded mandates for employers the better, right?

The long-term principal and interest payment schedule for Chicago’s general obligation debt swelled by about $1.7 billion last year as Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his finance team scrambled to fix a downgrade-driven liquidity quagmire that threatened the city’s balance sheet.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Wednesday will unveil the county’s first long-term transportation plan in more than 75 years, one that expands the county’s focus from roads and bridges to all forms of mobility — from walking and biking to transit and freight movement.

Chicago State University has been notified it could lose accreditation within a year because of its unstable finances.