Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed a new tax on residents’ and businesses’ water bills on Wednesday to generate additional revenue to prevent the city’s largest pension fund from going insolvent within the next decade.
At an investor presentation held at the Chicago Symphony Hall, Mayor Emanuel outlined his plan for the Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund (MEABF), the last of the city’s four pension funds without a stable revenue source to pay out benefits to retirees. A previous plan to amend the city’s payment schedule was found unconstitutional by the Illinois Supreme Court earlier this year, because it would have reduced benefits owed to existing retirees.