Audio: Wirepoints’ Mark Glennon says Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades – Chicago’s Morning Answer
April 3, 2026
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Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Illinois lost another 54,000 tax filers and dependents, net, according to the IRS. Since 2000, fleeing taxpayers have taken $94 billion of annual adjusted gross income with them.
When will we learn this hard lesson.
Vote the Democrats OUT!
Read what the IRPOA has to say about this. (IRPOA is the Illinois Rental Property Owners Association.) To sum it up: This new stupid law is a recipe for fewer affordable rentals in Illinois. Housing providers are now exposed to potential lawsuits simply for raising rent or not renewing a lease. Housing providers who own just a couple of units for supplemental income may just want to abandon the rental market altogether rather than deal with expensive legal battles. The IRPOA offered input to the sponsors of HB4768. IRPOA wanted to protect mom and pop housing providers who act responsibly.… Read more »