Mismanagement at every level - from the Wall Street Journal:
Chapter 9 Is the Best Bad Option for Chicago’s Pensions
Chicago’s pension problems are nothing new. Analysts and observers have known for years that the Windy City’s annual pension contributions were unsustainable. In 2016, the contribution for 2022 was projected to reach nearly $2 billion, 4.3 times what it was for 2014. Despite this gargantuan contribution, the pension plans’ funded ratio was projected to plummet—from a poor 31% in 2015 to an alarmingly low 26% in 2021. I urged Chicago at the time to increase its annual contributions by enough to prevent the funded ratio from dropping below 31%. Doing so would still have left Chicago’s pensions in worse shape than those of any major city in the U.S., but at least the hole wouldn’t get deeper. Chicago’s leaders did not embrace my recommendation.
Quite sobering. They are robbing their children. The butchers bill will come due and the current crop of leaders do not want to address this. No vision. No leadership. No management skills.
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