Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and his finance team are working on finding a solution for Chicago Public Schools to repay the city $175 million for a pension payment.
This comes two days before a vote by the Board of Education on an amended budget.
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Johnson also had some words on his reelection.
Mayor Johnson expressed confidence in his achievements, suggesting that potential rivals for the 2027 election need not run against him as he believes he is already a strong candidate for a second term.
But, the mayor’s more immediate concern is convincing the Board of Education to take on more debt to repay a debt to the city.
In a meeting with seven senior cabinet members, including the finance and budget directors, Mayor Johnson discussed options for addressing the budget conflict between CPS and the city, particularly focusing on the $175 million pension payment for non-teacher CPS employees.
The city already made the payment, and now is demanding CPS repay the money before the end of the month.
“We’re recommending a short-term borrowing to serve as a bridge to working out a more fulsome budget solution for CPS,” Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski said.
CPS is in the middle of a five-year plan to assume full responsibility for its employees pensions. During this time, the city is helping the cash-strapped district make those payments.
On Thursday, the Board will vote on an amended budget that calls for paying for teacher and principal contracts, but not making the pension payment, because it doesn’t have the money to do both.
“Well, look, there’s a responsibility the Board of Education has. They have to do both. They have to do both,” Johnson said.
In a report just completed for the Board of Education, a consultant offered numerous options.
Budget cuts were considered “highly challenging at best.”
And refinancing debt, the report warned, could result in “additional interest costs … and thus potential future budget shortfalls.”
The mayor criticized CPS CEO Pedro Martinez for not including the $175 million payment in the budget that was passed last August.
“The failure to do that is, is reprehensible,” Johnson said.
When asked about his thoughts on running for a second term in the fifth floor at City Hall, the mayor spent more than two minutes rattling off accomplishments, and then said, “I mean, personally, I don’t know why anybody would even try to run against me.”
Perhaps the mayor was being a bit facetious. But, with his polling and approval numbers quite low, he’s likely to face a number of candidates in the 2027 election, despite his bold sense of confidence on display Tuesday.
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