Cloak Lifted on Chicago’s Latest Financial Can-Kick: $2 Billion Cost For Taxpayers – Wirepoints

By: Mark Glennon*

The City of Chicago finally released enough information to assess its pending plan to refinance some of its debt. It’s a can-kick and the price tag is estimated at $2 billion, plus plenty of risk.

Recall Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s budget proposal released last month for the coming year. To make ends meet, it relies heavily on a refinancing plan that would push off debt repayments scheduled for 2021 year and 2022. The basic idea is to save cash this year and next by delaying debt repayment and, supposedly, getting lower interest rates.

The city claimed taxpayers would come out ahead in the long run, but it did not provide the details needed to check that claim, which looked very suspicious. We, among others, tried to do the calculation but we didn’t have the necessary numbers.

But reporters did their job. Crain’s wrote about the missing information and harangued the city’s chief financial officer in her meeting with its editorial board.

The city finally responded on Monday with more numbers.

In essence, the refinancing will kick down the road $950 million in debt service owed in 2020 and 2021. But doing that requires higher debt repayments in later years and extending the time for repayment by eight years. That means taxpayers ultimately pay more – probably $2 billion more – for the luxury of reducing their debt repayments over the next two years.

That’s our plain English version of the transaction. More technical details are here from The Bond Buyer’s Yvette Shields, who consistently delivers terrific reporting on our state and local finance.

There’s plenty of risk and uncertainty surrounding that $2 billion cost estimate.

First, nobody knows for sure what interest rate the city will have to pay on the refinanced bonds. The city is claiming it will have to pay only 4%, according to Crain’s, though recent costs have been about 5%.

Second, to figure out the true, long-term cost of the refinancing requires an estimate the future inflation rate. That’s because future debt payments should be discounted by that inflation rate. The higher the expected inflation rate the lower the true cost.

The city initially assumed an inflation rate of, wait for it, 4%. That’s nuts. The financial markets provide a very good consensus number on projected inflation. It’s currently just 1.37% over the next ten years. The Federal Reserve has failed for many months to get inflation up to its target rate of 2%.

Finally, the refinancing will rely on the new “securitized bond” structure we’ve long criticized whereby the city sells off full ownership in future revenue. If the city is to get lower interest rates it’s almost certainly because it will be pawning off more assets, probably in the form of future tax revenue. Exactly how that will work here is still murky.

It’s possible the entire transaction could be scaled back or even cancelled entirely. That’s because we don’t know what, if any, pandemic relief package may come from the federal government for cities and states.

However, Illinois taxpayers would be then be paying their share of that for all cities and states so, one way or another, the bill is coming.

*Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.

11 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
s & p 500
3 years ago

I don’t see how the legislators can even show up for work everyday. I heard that a lot of Congressmen need very good dentists because with the national debt and everything else, they sometimes fall victim to tooth grinding. The national debt is now $27 trillion.

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2020/grinding-your-teeth-blame-stress-and-other-pandemic-related-issues/

https://usdebtclock.org/

Paul
3 years ago

if the inflation rate was 4% they would be in even worse shape overall.

3 years ago

Maybe if there were not so many No Show jobs being paid for, not supporting illegals, and less corruption the City might actually get ahead. As long as the City supports all these corrupt politicians like Madigan who makes Millions in bribes the people will pay more for services and utilities.

Hank Scorpio
3 years ago

Mark, there is another article on Crains titled “Chicago must demand zero-interest loans from the Federal Reserve”.

I think you need to tear the authors, SAQIB BHATTI and AMISHA PATEL, a new one…

Al
3 years ago

Dear taxpayers: where will you be when the can hits the fan? [not Haiku]

Where goes the water
When the sinking ship is bailed
And who gets most wet?

Haiku?

Could John Galt find Jimmy Hoffa?

Let’s all get behind Joe Biden and get the answers we deserve and the solutions we’ve earned!

LessonLearned
3 years ago
Reply to  Al

“Dear taxpayers: where will you be when the can hits the fan?”

Answer: Not in Illinois.

NB-Chicago
3 years ago

Im confussed, I tried to read the bond buyer articale —think they’re saying cities going to refinance $1.7 bill and borrow an additional $450 mill for total of $2.15 bill? But then goes on to say cities athorizing up to $3.9 bill in revenue securitization (i guess that includes the securitization of the future pot tax revenue for our $six-figure$ tree trimmers heros)? Once again us average schmuck peasantry can never keep up…you just know your screwed

3 years ago

When you start seeing the word, “hypothecate”……

rick1099
3 years ago

Daley did it to Emanuel, Emanuel did it to Larry, Larry will pass it on. In the meantime the peasants will pay for their folly. Nothing new here, move along.

NoHope4Illinois
3 years ago
Reply to  rick1099

No nothing new – particularly when pollsters tell Larry that she is beloved by the voters.

Escape is the peasants only real option.

SIGN UP HERE FOR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER

Home Page Signup
First
Last
Check all you would like to receive:

FOLLOW US

 

WIREPOINTS ORIGINAL STORIES

A statewide concern: Illinois’ population decline outpaces neighboring states – Wirepoints on ABC20 Champaign

“We are not in good shape” Wirepoints’ Ted Dabrowski told ABC 20 Champaign during a segment on Illinois’ latest population losses. Illinois was one of just three states to shrink in the 2010-2020 period and has lost another 300,000 people since then. Ted says things need to change. “It’s too expensive to live here, there aren’t enough good jobs and nobody trusts the government anymore. There’s just other places to go where you can be more satisfied.”

Read More »

WE’RE A NONPROFIT AND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS ARE DEDUCTIBLE.

SEARCH ALL HISTORY

CONTACT / TERMS OF USE