Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has reiterated that he won’t raise property taxes, so higher charges on phone lines will help free up money for the $50 million due for the municipal and laborer pensions, according to the city. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
In a story on Chicago’s latest budget, the Bloomberg Businessweek quotes Michael Pagano, GCI fellow and dean of the College of Urban Planning, and cites the annual City Fiscal Conditions report that he co-authors with the National League of Cities. Pagano said Chicago’s revenues are inching up, but have a long way to go before the pension deficit is resolved.
“In Chicago’s case, the revenues are actually inching upward, but the expenditures were so high to begin with that they’re trying to bring those into alignment,” said Michael Pagano, dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and one of the report’s co-authors.
“It’s going to be a huge, painful adjustment” to reduce pension expenses, he said.
