The Chicago Sun-Times reports:
Mayor Daley was accused Monday of ignoring a “ticking time bomb” for Chicago taxpayers: four city employee pension funds that will run out of money by 2030.
During opening day of Council hearings on Daley’s final city budget, Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th), chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee, homed in on the pension crisis that will force Chicago taxpayers and city workers to dig deeper.
Alderman Burke explains the situation:
He noted that the city’s entire property tax levy is gobbled up by pension and debt payments and that the pension funds are selling off assets to meet current obligations.
“I don’t know that we’re doing a good enough job of selling our dilemma to the taxpayers. ... Nine years from now, we’ll have a bankrupt [firefighters] pension fund,” Burke said.
Just a reminder when Chicago politicians want a bailout from federal taxpayers.
