Pritzker record: He added $300 million last year to Chicago pension woes
The governor signed a sweetener for city police and firefighters that’s estimated to add over $11 billion in accrued liabilities by 2055.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s decision to sweeten pensions for Chicago police officers and firefighters added $300 million last year to the city’s liabilities in its woefully underfunded pension systems.
Even though investment returns in 2025 were $337 million higher than predicted and the city made $272 million in supplemental pension contributions, Chicago’s pension debt declined by only $106 million.
While inching in the right direction, the minor decrease in debt last year is overshadowed by the over $16.5 billion in debt added since 2014, the year before the city changed the pension funding formula.
The figures are in Chicago’s 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, which shows that the city has more than $50 billion in pension liabilities — the current value of pension benefits it has promised to workers — and only $14 billion in assets on hand to pay those benefits.
The slow progress on pension debt is because of Pritzker’s decision to sign legislation boosting benefits for Chicago police and firefighters, the two worst-funded of the city’s four systems. The benefit sweetener will add an estimated $11.1 billion in accrued liabilities by 2055.
And the future of supplemental payments to the pension systems is uncertain after Mayor Brandon Johnson hasn’t followed through on the City Council’s mandate to make a $260 million advance payment this year. His administration made half the payment this January, but the second installment remains unpaid, with the city citing delayed property tax revenue from Cook County.
Also, even with high investment returns and supplemental payments, total additions to the systems last year fell 14.8% short of the actuarially recommended amount. That’s a nearly half a billion-dollar deficiency.
This failure makes the city budget unbalanced and means the amount Chicago needs to contribute annually to reach the state-mandated 90% funding level by 2058 will likely increase.
To put the 90% figure in perspective, the combined funding ratio of all four city systems is 28.1%.
Experts say funding ratios under 60% are unhealthy, with such systems defined as “deeply troubled.” Funded ratios below 40% are considered past the point of no return and on the way to insolvency, major benefit cuts or massive tax hikes.
All four of Chicago’s pension systems are under 60%. The best-funded is laborers, at 44.1%. The remaining three are below 30%.
By making the second installment of this year’s required supplemental pension payment, Johnson would show fiscal responsibility for the city.
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