-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Local governments in Cook County, including the county itself, now have a whopping $139 billion in debt, most of it unfunded and most of it money owed to municipal and school workers for pensions and retiree health costs.
That's the bottom line of the latest Debt Disclosure Report issued by Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, with the combined figure that taxpayers are on the hook for rising 30 percent just since 2011.
Summary and audio linked here.
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.
Full interview and summary linked here.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
Pappas says that’s bad news.
“If you’re going to purchase a piece of property, it would be a really good idea if you look at the (debt) numbers in your area to see what you’re inheriting,”
That is going to be the kiss of death for property values in Chicago, and the reason I sold. When the automatic property tax increases start in 2020, watch home values go down the tubes.