It lurks under the surface. . .it's scary. . . .you can see something moving in the budget, and you know it can kill you. . . .but we don't really know much about it.
Pension obligations.
Public employees get ridiculously generous pensions.
While the world has moved away from defined-benefit pensions (here's your monthly check when you are retired until you die) to defined-contribution pensions (here's your monthly check to an investment fund while you are working), government sure has not.
And these pension obligations are huge. Just monstrous.
I've heard that the single biggest item in the city budget is. . .pension payments.
I don't know if it's true. But I do know one of the biggest reasons why the state is broke and every city is broke is because of pension obligations.
Hey Tribune! Write about this. Get your investigative team together.
I suspect that we should cut back on these fat pensions. Especially since all pension income is tax-free in Illinois. And lots of these old guys don't even live in Illinois or Chicago any more.
If anyone's got more information on public pensions, send it my way.
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