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If approved by the City Council, the extension of the Near North Tax Increment Financing District, is expected to generate $600 million more in tax revenue on top of the $350 million it already has generated since it was established in 1997 to help finance then-Mayor Richard M. Daley’s plan to redevelop the area.
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Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades
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.
WBEZ and Chicago Sun-Times falsely blame Texas Gov. Abbott for 2020 to 2024 surge in Chicago Latino HIV, AIDS infections – Wirepoints Quickpoint
March 31, 2026
11 Comments
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
With Discussion Beginning About Pension Buyout Program For Chicago, Beware of Baloney – Wirepoints
March 28, 2026
17 Comments
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.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago’s Fiscal Crisis Has Passed the Point of No Return, Bond Market Already Signaling Collapse
March 25, 2026
24 Comments
Full interview and summary linked here.
The Cabrini Green situation was Daley’s great plan to move the crime mess to the suburbs and other cities so he could manipulate crime statistics in the City of Chiucago and create a great big TIF slush fund for his cronies. Politics, Chicago style.