Chicago's Rating Cut by Fitch After Pension Overhaul Dashed
- Fitch drops city's rank to lowest level of investment grade
- Illinois Supreme Court ruled city's pension changes illegal
This article is for subscribers only.
Chicago had its credit rating cut to the lowest investment grade by Fitch Ratings after the Illinois Supreme Court tossed out Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan for dealing with the mounting debt to its workers’ pension plans.
The two-step downgrade on Monday to BBB-, one rank above junk, affected $9.8 billion of general-obligation bonds and $486 million of debt backed by sales taxes. The company said the outlook is negative, indicating that the rating could be lowered further.