City of Chicago’s cash cushion plummets, debt triples, arrests drop, water use rises - Chicago Sun-Times

City of Chicago’s cash cushion plummets, debt triples, arrests drop, water use rises - Chicago Sun-Times


"The “unassigned” balance is $33.4 million. Experts recommend a cash cushion of at least $200 million for a budget the size of Chicago’s, according to the Civic Federation. The city ended 2009 with an unallocated checkbook balance of just $2.7 million.
The new round of borrowing brings Chicago’s total long-term debt to nearly $29 billion. That’s $10,780 for every one of the city’s nearly 2.69 million residents. More than a decade ago, the debt load was $9.6 billion or $3,338 per resident.
Last year, now-retiring City Comptroller Amer Ahmad argued that the city’s debt load was not “troubling” because, “We still have a very strong bond rating. Our fiscal position is getting better every year and we are aggressively managing our liabilities and obligations.”


He can no longer say that after the triple-drop in Chicago’s bond rating."
..Meredith was just too early..