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.
Includes: "The authors gave Chicago the 'F' rating because elected leaders have repeatedly made financial decisions that failed to address the city’s growing debt burden, primarily driven by unfunded pension liabilities. "
“Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration spent $281.5 million in federal COVID-19 relief money on Chicago Police Department personnel costs, prompting an angry response Wednesday from activists and some aldermen. … ”
By Mike Krauser, includes 40-second radio segment, and text “Chicago is the Second City when it comes to public debt. Chicago is considered a ‘sinkhole city’ by the financial watchdog group, ‘Truth in Accounting,’ because there is not enough cash to cover the debt. … But most of the largest cities are in the same boat. A total of 61 of the 75 cities covered in the report are considered ‘sinkhole cities’ that owe more than they have.”
By Greg Hinz, includes “As if Chicago needed a reminder, a new report out today dings the city pretty sharply for accumulating billions and billions of dollars in unfunded pension liabilities. … A Truth in Accounting study finds $43,100 owed per taxpayer, but there's signs of progress on the pension front.” (Note: Truth in Accounting’s new “Financial State of the Cities” report is available here.)
Op-ed by Paul Vallas, includes “Two years ago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot oversaw the passage of a city ordinance that left residents with guaranteed annual property tax increases. By continuing the tradition of not blocking Chicago Public Schools from increasing taxes to its levy limit and going back on her promise to not use annual tax increment financing surpluses to offset TIF-generated property tax increases, …”
Includes “Police departments in states like Florida and Texas, as well as local Illinois suburbs, are stepping up efforts to aggressively recruit cops from Chicago, where morale has sunk … Suburban departments are benefiting from a state law that took effect in August, 2021, allowing Chicago cops to transfer up to five years of active service to a police pension system for suburban officers until the end of 2023.”
Truth in Accounting has released its sixth annual Financial State of the Cities report.