Nearly 5,000 Chicago city workers make six-figure salaries, driving up the payroll and pension costs overtaxed city residents must pay.

A law passed by the Illinois General Assembly in June allows Chicago to create new transit-based super TIFs, adding more opportunities for city-run slush funds to divert and hoard property-tax dollars.

A new Chicago financial report shows the city’s total unfunded liabilities have jumped by over $17 billion, growing to nearly $24 billion in 2015 from $6.5 billion in 2014.

A taxpayer bill of rights would put checks on politicians eager to hike taxes in one of the nation’s most over-taxed cities.

The stopgap budget passed by the General Assembly provides six months worth of funding for government services such as road construction, as well as a full K-12 education budget for the 2016-2017 school year, property-tax-raising authority for Chicago, and more state funding of pensions for Chicago Public Schools teachers.