Pension debt, property taxes, budget holes: Chicago’s next mayor faces huge financial problems

 

Pension debt, property taxes, budget holes: Chicago’s next mayor faces huge financial problems

At a packed City Club luncheon in late January, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot presented a hopeful picture of the city’s economic outlook.

Speaking to a crowd of movers and shakers at Maggiano’s downtown, Lightfoot hailed a “robust” recovery from COVID-19, a slew of credit rating upgrades, potential new revenues from the new Bally’s

 casino and a deal to sell water to Joliet, and a $750 million reduction in outstanding debt since she took office.