The report examines the fiscal health of America’s five largest cities–Los Angeles, Houston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York City. 

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has resisted making its financial audits public, and we are starting to learn why. The union recently produced audits going back to 2020, and the records show that its finances haven’t always received a clean slate by its official independent auditor.

But that only covers Chicago’s debts. Those same taxpayers would need to contribute an additional $37,000 to pay down the state’s existing debts, according to Truth in Accounting’s most recent 2024 State of the States report.

The Financial State of the Cities report found that 54 cities did not have enough money to pay their bills. Each city has some form of a balanced budget requirement, but this new report shows that cities have not met the intent of their requirement and have pushed costs onto future taxpayers.

If the city is ever going to get its finances on track, it must avoid its long tradition of using one-time solutions and postponing tough financial decisions, such as paying off debt and cutting costs. Chicago’s debt sits at $40,600 per taxpayer, according to Truth in Accounting.

The burden of debt and public pensions could soon push Chicago into bankruptcy.

'Outnumbered' reacts to Chicago residents erupting at a city council meeting over the city's sanctuary policies prioritizing illegal immigrants over citizens.

According to Ives, she cited a report from Truth In Accounting to note that every taxpayer in Chicago would have to pay $42,900 to pay off the city’s debt. She also urged Democrats to "spend big in Chicago, where the sales tax rate is 10.25%, and don’t forget to visit the pot shops where sales taxes can exceed 30% on some products!"

Chicago Public Schools reported a budget gap of $500 million this year, and Mayor Brandon Johnson did not rule out a high-interest loan to cover it.

Truth in Accounting Founder and CEO Sheila Weinberg told The Center Square that the city needs to make cuts or add revenue, and she does not consider a loan as revenue.

Mayor Brandon Johnson is not ruling out a loan to cover a Chicago Public Schools deficit of $500 million. There is no official answer on how the mayor will fill the budget gap, after he rejected cuts proposed by CPS administrators.

One-party rule in action: According to the group Truth in Accounting, Chicago continues to live up to its moniker “Second City” in at least one respect: it has thesecond-worstdebt load of any big city in America—about $43,000 per taxpayer, or almost $40 billion in total.

Thus, a family moving to Chicago suddenly becomes the inheritor of almost $85,000 in liabilities. By this metric, Chicago is no longer second but has by far the worst debt burden of any major city.

— GRADING CHICAGO: Truth in Accounting, an Illinois-based group that works to improve accounting standards in government, is out with its annual “Financial State of the Cities” report today. Among the findings: Chicago’s financial condition worsened more than $206 million despite increased tax collections and federal Covid relief funds.

At the end of the fiscal year 2022, 53 cities did not have enough money to pay all of their bills.

"Illinois is touting its rainy day fund, which has recently passed the $2 billion mark. However, some financial analysts say the state is lying to itself about its finances.

After an $11.5 million deposit, Illinois' Rainy Day Fund is now $2.005 billion, up from $48,000 in 2017, which would have only allowed the state to run properly for 30 seconds."

"Sobering Statistics 

The study, called Financial State of the Cities 2023, was done by Truth in Accounting. It has some difficult truths: 50 out of 75 cities could not pay their bills; the combined debt for all 75 cities is $267 billion. Moreover, elected officials didn’t include the cost of government in this figure, instead pushing it onto future taxpayers."

The Chicago Mayoral race is underway. This is an important election for Chicago and Illinois. Therefore, every voter must be “fiscally educated” before entering the voting booth. 

"CHICAGO (WLS) -- With the April 4 runoff election now less than a week away, we're taking a closer look at how the candidates for mayor differ on some key issues.

One that affects every person in Chicago is managing the city's finances and budget.

The country's third-largest city has a $28 billion budget to cover everything from police, fire, schools, parks, garbage pickup and snow removal -- and it's controlled by the mayor."

I'm sure you've heard the Mayor Lightfoot news by now. 

What does this mean for Chicago? What does this mean for the country?

Chicago ranked second worst in the nation in our most recent report on the fiscal health of our 75 largest cities. 

As the third largest city in our country, Chicago has affected culture and politics.  

How could it not????

This year's report highlights the volatility and risk surrounding pension plan assets and corresponding pension liabilities.