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Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposal includes a 5% salary bump for FOP-represented police in 2024 and 2025, up from the 2.5% and 2% raises for those years that were agreed upon in the Lightfoot administration’s extension. A larger raise for 2024 was not included in the roughly $2 billion appropriation for the police department passed by City Council earlier this month, meaning approval of a contract with Johnson’s proposed terms would immediately put the city approximately $27.7 million over budget for 2024.
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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This ignorant arrogant bastard is way out of his league and he knows it.
The COC can’t pay is bills now. The city is flat broke.
So what is the completely out of his depth mayor’s solution?
Hand out more raises.
Chicago is utterly lost.
Curious as to what bills haven’t been paid?
Best guess. Years or decades of required actuarial pension obligations even though they were collected from the officers and or taxpayers.
So….they haven’t missed paying any bills. Pension payments aren’t due until it is required to pay the pensioner. Got it. He was making it up.
I am referring to the contributions that are required to be made not the pension itself. They are not made otherwise the fund would be at 100%.
Actuarial contributions aren’t “required” though so it’s not true that they have not been paying their bills.
It’s the equivalent of accusing you of not paying your bills because you didn’t set aside enough money for your 401k or IRA.
Maybe Mayor BJ is hoping to collect some of the $6B in unpaid water bills and fines.
And fiduciary CTU /Brandon offers ZERO explanation on new revenue sources to pay for $100s of millions in announced pay raises that aren’t even negotiated???…w zero regard for taxpayers, OUTRAGEOUS!!!
Maybe the bigger question, does the collective bargaining process where mayors team negotiates the best deal for taxpayers with labor mean anything to fiduciary CTU/Brandon?