-- 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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LOL, just last year, the long-term liabilities were $1.5 billion LARGER than they were in 2018. In other words, the pension fund performed (either via investment returns or changes in actuarial assumptions) much better this past year. The county did jack squat.
in FY 2021, long-term liabilities were $1.5 billion higher than FY2018. The big change here is that net pension liabilities decreased from $9.8B to $7.1B with no discernable change in county pension funding. Are we talking market fluctuation here? The county adjusts their actuarial assumptions yearly, it’s hard to tell if any increase or decrease is due to the market performance or plan assumptions.
In other words, Civic Fed is painting a financial picture with very broad strokes.
Don’t be fooled- the actuarial liabilities declined because of the Bidenflation caused higher interest rates.