-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
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.
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Where is this money coming from? Oh, that’s right, it’s coming from the taxpayer. The union continues to think that the taxpayer has infinitely deep pockets. Chicago’s population gets smaller and smaller mostly because of ever-increasing taxes and user fees, keeping the death spiral in high gear.
Also, don’t the teachers get step increases, too? If so, the real salary progression per year would be closer to five percent, which is greater than what the vast majority of American workers get and unsustainable by the taxpayer.
You’re right. Step increases are can be as much as 4%, although the steps cap out at some point.
The media doesn’t know how to report pay increases, reporting only COLA and not the step increase. It makes it seem like the teachers are barely keeping up with inflation.