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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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Racing DOWM dump trucks on the Skyway! Sparks flying! TPB!
It may work if they put in 19.5 teaspoons of sugar (like a 20 oz Mountain Dew has) in each can so they can add a sugar tax.
Maybe the city could hand out a free complimentary six-pack of Chicagwa to all the folks who are getting covid $free stuff$ bucks to pay their water bill?
Or, maybe a free complimentary six-pack of Chicagwa to all us Chicago water dept tax payer chumps. And instead of artsy can design put a picture of the city water dept guy sitting in his truck staring at his I-phones while making god-knows-what and taking over a month to fix my neighbors leaky water service, from earlier this year–OUTRAGEOUS!!!
Also, little mentioned, but city just passed ordinance prohibiting privatization of city water services. Another big win for are overcompensated city workers heroes and big loss for chump city water tax payers as other Illinois municipalities have turned to privatizing their water departments.
Mayor Lightfoot will introduce a measure that bans privatizing Chicago’s waterworkshttps://www.wbez.org/stories/mayor-lightfoot-introduces-new-chicago-water-ordinance/94fbbca3-6ccc-4ecb-98b1-c22e1f2714c7
The big picture/ grand prize for city water dept labor unions is to insure they are granted 100% of federally funded lead water line replacement work. Which they will perform on time & material basis with all their crazy work rules vrs competitively bid on lump sum basis or per unit basis.
So with city Water Dept labor union and plumbers’ union work rules, how long do you suppose it may take to change those 400,000 lead pipes connecting the water mains to residential water services if the Water Dept employees have to do all of the work? A Water Dept crew of 9 men can do 20 services per week under current rules and customs. That is the output of a well-run crew that repairs service leaks now, a comparable job since it’s repair includes digging down onto the same connection as it is usually an old lead connection that is… Read more »
Do you work for city water dept? When you state –“A Water Dept crew of 9 men can do 20 services per week under current rules and customs”? In a lifetime living in city, it took city water dept over a month to fix ,not replace, my neighbors leaking water service last fall. That included the crews with none working truck driver staring at his i-phone, none working super sitting in seperate pickup staring at his i-phone and one guy actually doing the work. They even had crews show up at 8:00 pm to do whatever for a couple hrs.… Read more »
Our water dept got “privatized,” my water bill is $200 a month up from $30 before.