Chicago Pension Debt Rises to $35 Billion as Mayor Hunts for Fix

  • Liability grew due to investment impact from volatile markets
  • City ‘charting a better path forward’ financially: Johnson

Brandon Johnson

Photographer: Jamie Kelter Davis/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Chicago’s pension burden climbed last year after the city’s retirement funds lost money due to volatile markets, deepening the long-standing fiscal woes for new Mayor Brandon Johnson.

The net pension liability across the city’s four retirement funds rose about 5% to $35.4 billion as of Dec. 31 from $33.7 billion a year earlier, according to Chicago’s annual financial report posted to the city’s website.