-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s 2020 budget includes a $300 million tax-increment-financing surplus — the largest in Chicago history — just to help bankroll the $500 million offer the striking Chicago Teachers Union has already rejected, a top mayoral aide said Wednesday.
By closing out five TIF’s and scouring all of the others, Lightfoot has managed to generate $163 million for Chicago Public Schools. That’s $66 million more than the school system received last year.
The city will get $31 million of that new money to help defray its $838 million budget gap.
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.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
Does anyone know the cost of keeping open the schools that are at 10-20% capacity now compared to 2008? There was a list of at least 20 schools or more on this website. They are open 24/7 with heating/maintenance/repairs/etc. Cost must be in millions.