Mayor Lori Lightfoot presents her budget proposal for 2022 to the Chicago City Council on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021. (WTTW News)

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to close a projected $733 million budget gap in 2022 relies on $385 million in federal relief funds and nearly $299 million in savings and efficiencies, but the plan contains “no new tax or significant fee increases” for Chicago residents, she said.

This Friday, Aug. 26, 2016 file photo shows a sign for the Illinois Teachers Retirement System in Springfield, Ill. (AP Photo / Seth Perlman, File)

Pension systems for state government workers across the U.S. are in their best shape since the Great Recession began more than a dozen years ago, according to a study released Tuesday.

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Before the pandemic, Chicago finance officials projected that the city would eliminate its longstanding imbalance between revenues and expenditures and reach structural balance in 2023. In all, the pandemic cost the city $1.7 billion, complicating those efforts.

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Chicago owes $32.9 billion to its four employee pension funds representing police officers, firefighters, municipal employees and laborers, according to the 2020 Certified Annual Financial Report — an increase of nearly 3.5% from 2019. 

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Mayor Lori Lightfoot has vowed to “force a reckoning” on the issue of pensions, which she called “the biggest problem” facing Chicago’s finances.

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Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she was disappointed that Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law that gives a subset of Chicago firefighters the same retirement package as their peers, saying it will “result in a deeper financial burden to the taxpayers of Chicago.” Days earlier, he signed another law Lightfoot had pressured him to reject.

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Some retired firefighters could see their pensions grow after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a measure to boost the annual cost-of-living increase added to their checks. Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the measure would create an “unfunded mandate” that would force Chicago officials to raise taxes or cut services.

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza appears on “Chicago Tonight” via Zoom on Tuesday, March 16, 2021. (WTTW News)

Echoing statements made by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the state’s comptroller says stimulus funds will first go toward paying back the billions Illinois borrowed from the Federal Reserve early in the pandemic last year.

A billboard in Chicago promotes voting in favor of the so-called fair tax in the November 2020 election. (WTTW News)

Illinois voters in November rejected a constitutional amendment that would have allowed the state to overhaul how it taxes income. Now one of Springfield’s top leaders is suggesting another swing at the effort. 

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The head of the board handling the Chicago Teachers Union’s pension fund disclosed a toxic culture among trustees and claimed some union members had been pushing to hire former staffers of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks with WTTW News on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020 after lobbying lawmakers in Springfield to approve a bill that would ease some of the taxes and fees for a Chicago casino.

Before this week’s whirlwind four-day emergency session of the General Assembly, Mayor Lori Lightfoot rolled snake eyes twice in her bid to shape the rules for a Chicago casino. What her victory means for the city.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivers his budget address in Springfield on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. (WTTW News)

With the acknowledgement that “our choices remain hard, our fiscal situation challenging,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday delivered his proposal for a $42 billion state spending plan for the coming fiscal year.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks with Amanda Vinicky of “Chicago Tonight” on Friday, Jan. 10, 2020. (WTTW News)

One year ago, Illinois got a new leader when J.B. Pritzker was sworn in as the state’s 43rd governor. Pritzker reflects on his first year in office and looks ahead to what’s next.

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Mayor Lori Lightfoot isn’t folding her cards just yet on a new casino tax structure, though a deal proved elusive Wednesday. That leaves just one remaining day in the veto session for a framework to be finalized and get through both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker appears at a signing ceremony for the $40 billion spending plan Wednesday, June 5, 2019. (WTTW News)

Consolidating scores of local firefighter and police pension funds could save Illinois taxpayers between $820 million and $2.5 billion in the next five years, according to a report published by a state task force.

Watch the mayor’s full speech outlining “where we are, where we’ve come, and what we see as a path forward.” With commentary by our own Paris Schutz and Becky Vevea of WBEZ.