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.
It’s important people not lose sight of this. Imagine, a property tax appeal lawyer sponsoring a law that would take negate the voice of the voters and let the Cook County Board president appoint whoever she wants as assessor. One guess who will get the job. In light of the fact Madigan and Cullerton are both making millions off property tax appeals, I’m guessing this bill passes easily.