Audio: Wirepoints’ Mark Glennon says Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades – Chicago’s Morning Answer
April 3, 2026
9 Comments
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.
Illinois lost another 54,000 tax filers and dependents, net, according to the IRS. Since 2000, fleeing taxpayers have taken $94 billion of annual adjusted gross income with them.
No one is listening and no one cares what
he says, get rid of him next election,
Chicago is done , put a fork in it.
The great city that was is no more!
If Homie had heeded the wishes of his alder people ( the non- Latinomarxist ones anyway ) he would’ve imposed the curfew that most rational people realize is needed. But no, CTU Puppet Man Brandon feels the underserved deserve to run wild and free resulting in 1000 teenagers gathering in the wee hours in dangerous neighborhoods. There is a 10K reward offered for information regarding the woman murdered, but it isn’t being put up by Special Ed teacher/ ringleader of the whole mess Dwhatever his name is. He has disavowed any of this being his fault even though he created… Read more »
Or, Mayor, maybe you can try to drive opportunity for people so they can get reasonably educated, develop technical skills, and pursue advanced degrees if interested. Additionally, you could try to create a business-friendly climate the grows and creates jobs. I suspect this will reduce crime and associated violence more than any other program.