Prairie State Wire

The public debt accumulated by the City of Chicago and related agencies such as Chicago Public Schools and the transit authority equals $126,600 per resident, the highest financial burden among the nation’s 10 largest cities, a new study concluded.

Research released by the nonprofit Truth in Accounting (TIA) showed Chicago has a per-taxpayer debt burden that exceeds New York City and its underlying government units. The latter has a combined per-taxpayer debt of more than $85,000, TIA reported.

When TIA examined only municipal debts of the 75 largest U.S. cities earlier this year, Chicago finished 74th, with the second-highest municipal debt: $41,100 per taxpayer, behind New York City’s $68,200.

All the underlying government agencies in the Chicago region have debts that exceed assets, with the exception of the Chicago Housing Authority, which has a per-taxpayer surplus of $900, according to the analysis. The other units each carries a per-taxpayer financial burden: Chicago Public Schools, $19,500; Cook County, $8,500; Chicago Transit Authority, $4,000; Chicago Park District, $1,700; Metro Water Reclamation District, $600; Chicago Community College District, $100; and the state of Illinois, $52,000. 

When the total debt numbers from the 10 most populous cities are examined collectively, the average combined debt burden per taxpayer was more than $46,000. This calculation includes other government entities’ debt numbers, including those of states and counties. 

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Cities’ Combined Debt Burdens, Lowest to Highest

Rank	City	Combined Financial Burden per City Taxpayer
1	Phoenix	$10,400
2	San Antonio	$19,200
3	Houston	$24,400
4	Dallas	$26,000
5	San Diego	$34,100
6	San Jose	$41,800
7	Philadelphia	$45,300
8	Los Angeles	$47,600
9	New York City	$85,400
10	Chicago	$126,600

City of Chicago Financial Data
Category	Amount
Assets available to pay bills	$10 billion
Unfunded pensions benefits due	$31.8 billion
Unfunded other post-employment benefits	$828.8 million
Other Bills	$13.9 billion
Money available (or needed) to pay bills	-$36.4 billion
Taxpayer surplus (or burden)	-$41,100
Grade	F
Chicago Public Schools Financial Data
Category	Amount
Assets available to pay bills	$2.8 billion
Unfunded pensions benefits due	$14.1 billion
Unfunded other post-employment benefits	$2.6 billion
Other Bills	$3.4 billion
Money available (or needed) to pay bills	-$17.3 billion
Taxpayer surplus (or burden)	-$19,500
Grade	D
Cook County Financial Data
Category	Amount
Assets available to pay bills	$2 billion
Unfunded pensions benefits due	$12.1 billion
Unfunded other post-employment benefits	$1.6 billion
Other Bills	$2.9 billion
Money available (or needed) to pay bills	-$14.5 billion
Taxpayer surplus (or burden)	-$8,500
Grade	D
Chicago Transit Authority Financial Data
Category	Amount
Assets available to pay bills	$914.4 million
Unfunded pensions benefits due	$1.8 billion
Unfunded other post-employment benefits	$9.8 million
Other Bills	$2.7 billion
Money available (or needed) to pay bills	-$3.5 billion
Taxpayer surplus (or burden)	-$4,000
Grade	C
Chicago Park District Financial Data
Category	Amount
Assets available to pay bills	$491.1 million
Unfunded pensions benefits due	$1.7 billion
Unfunded other post-employment benefits	$52 million
Other Bills	$245.2 million
Money available (or needed) to pay bills	-$1.5 billion
Taxpayer surplus (or burden)	-$1,700
Grade	C
Metro Water Reclamation District Financial Data
Category	Amount
Assets available to pay bills	$671.1 million
Unfunded pensions benefits due	$1.1 billion
Unfunded other post-employment benefits	$72.2 million
Other Bills	$521.6 million
Money available (or needed) to pay bills	-$1.1 billion
Taxpayer surplus (or burden)	-$600
Grade	C
Chicago Community College District Financial Data
Category	Amount
Assets available to pay bills	$218.8 million
Unfunded pensions benefits due	$0
Unfunded other post-employment benefits	$98.3 million
Other Bills	$177.9 million
Money available (or needed) to pay bills	-$57.4 million
Taxpayer surplus (or burden)	-$100
Grade	C
Chicago Housing Authority Financial Data
Category	Amount
Assets available to pay bills	$1.4 billion
Unfunded pensions benefits due	$2 million
Unfunded other post-employment benefits	$0
Other Bills	$572.9 million
Money available (or needed) to pay bills	$782.6 million
Taxpayer surplus (or burden)	$900
Grade	B
State of Illinois Financial Data
Category	Amount
Assets available to pay bills	$28.5 billion
Unfunded pensions benefits due	$144.2 billion
Unfunded other post-employment benefits	$56.1 billion
Other Bills	$54.2 billion
Money available (or needed) to pay bills	-$226 billion
Taxpayer surplus (or burden)	-$52,000
Grade	F

Source: Truth in Accounting