Unless the Illinois Constitution is amended next year to permit modest pension adjustments, a restructuring in bankruptcy court is Chicago’s only practical path to prosperity, according to a Chicago Tribune commentary. While the city attempts to pass the burden of its debts to residents through taxes, residents can choose to stay and pay or leave — and thereby leave their share of the burden behind for others to bear. The city’s rapidly mounting debts — arising from bonds issued to Wall Street, tort judgments and woefully unfunded pension promises and other benefits offered to city workers — are now of such a scale that the numbers are numbing and lose meaning to many. One number, though, is a “tell” that Chicago and other parts of Illinois have passed a tipping point: Chicago’s population is shrinking. Under federal bankruptcy law, Illinois may authorize municipalities to reduce debt through a court proceeding, but Illinois has yet to seize this opportunity. Chicago is not alone. Hundreds of other Illinois municipalities are finding it impossible to pay for the twin obligations of providing current services and keeping the exorbitant pension promises made in connection with past services.
