How Chicago's pensions are crushing the City?

What she's failing to understand is our wonderful park system and river walk. It's not all about money.

Just kidding!

BTW: Some facts presented in the video which I crossed checked at CivicFed.com:

Pensions, employee benefits and Debt Combined

In 2025, pension and debt service costs together consume approximately 40% of Chicago's entire budget, totaling nearly $5 billion. Breaking this down:

• Pensions alone: $2.9 billion in 2025 , which represents roughly 23-24% of the city's net appropriations

• Debt service: Just over $2 billion in 2025, representing about 16% of the total budget

• Employee Benefits (Beyond Pensions): Separate from pensions, employee benefits spending (which includes healthcare and other benefits) represent an additional 4-5% of the budget.

Property Taxes

In 2025, nearly 78% of the city's property tax dollars go toward pensions. That's up significantly from 63% in 2019 to 81% by 2025 .