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
9 Comments
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.
The Bears will be at Soldier Field for the foreseeable future. The McCaskey family does not have the money to fund the development of a domed stadium and a 196 acre plot of land in Arlington Heights. They should sell the team to a multi-billionaire. Jeff Bezos wants a NFL franchise, as does Musk.
Give it up Brandon. The Bears don’t want to stay in a crime infested, failing city . Clean up the crime, improve education, lock up juvenile delinquents, and act financially responsible.
The Mayor says Chicago is “on a hot winning streak!” He must have forgotten about the $1.1 billion City deficit, NASCAR canceling the 2026 race, the new $11 billion pension obligation just handed to him by JB, the CPS budget mess, CTA on the verge of financial collapse, the totally forgotten lead water pipe program, and on and on. Someone needs to adjust his prescriptions soon.