CHICAGO: The average Chicago household now owes a staggering $63,525 to cover local government debt, according to Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas

◼ Cook taxpayers owe $108 billion, county Treasurer Pappas says: Greg Hinz - chicagobusiness.com

Suburbanites are deeply in the red, too, with the average household owing $32,901, according to the treasurer.

Among the biggest reasons: $25 billion in unfunded pension liability....

Overall, she said, municipalities have $61 billion in debt. And educational districts, $20 billion. Cook County owes $18 billion, and various sanitary districts collectively owe $4.4 billion.

In some ways the problem is actually worse than it appears. Ms. Pappas' report does not include totals from 55 of the county's 553 local units of government, which failed to report their debt figures to her.

◼ The 67 percent income tax rate increase Quinn and fellow Democrats approved in a January lame-duck session will bring in about $2.8 billion until the end of the budget year on June 30, but there’s “simply not enough money to go around,” according to the budget office. - hrwf, previously