In an article published in Forbes magazine, former Illinois gubernatorial candidate, Adam Andrzejewski, [ an-gee-EFF-ski ] has lifted the lid on the growth of high-income jobs that are a part of the City of Chicago payroll.
In the Forbes article, Andrzejewski writes that the population of Chicago is down 1,000,000 since 1950, that the city operates on the verge of insolvency, and yet it currently has 10,600 city employees making over $100,000.
In addition, the article cites this bit stunning news, that in 2016, the City spent over $283 million in OVERTIME, mostly on fire and police. Of that amount, over $1.2 million in overtime went to just 10 police officers.
Andrzejewski findings come from an audit of the City’s payroll, conducted by his organization, “Open the Books” that he started after his run for governor in 2010, when he argued that every dime spend by government should be posted online in real time.
These payrolls costs, come as Gov Rauner is saying the City of Chicago, and Chicago Public Schools should be covering the cost of their pensions, not downstate taxpayers. It’s not that one is connected directly to the other in terms of city payroll vs pensions for Chicago teachers, but it doesn’t help the politics of those arguing for the state paying $215 million toward pensions, when such startling payroll costs become public.
For more on the findings of the audit, here’s a link to the Forbes article:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2017/08/06/can-mayor-rahm-emanuel-manage-chicago/#70d60600632d
