City of Chicago
Paying down the shortfall (money promised but never saved)
Exact amount: $817,827,915.00
Calendar year 2026
Our estimateThe valuation says this is a severely underfunded plan: funded ratio 26.1%, unfunded liability about $13.8 billion. The money here is the part of the City's payment left after the cost of this year's pensions. The State law (P.A. 99-0506) sets payments that aim for 90% funded by 2055. The City's payment is not the same as the benefits paid. The City sends one payment set by law to the fund, and the fund pays its retirees from that money plus member contributions and investment earnings. This split shares the payment out by each group's share of yearly benefit dollars, so it is our estimate, not a City figure.
The City sends one payment set by law to the retirement fund, and the fund then pays thousands of retirees, so the public records stop at how many retirees there are and what the average one gets.
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All items
| Box | Amount | % of this budget |
|---|---|---|
| Service retirees: 11,271 retired officers · Our estimate | $715,305,538.13 | 87.5% |
| Surviving spouses (widow annuities): 3,068 widows and widowers · Our estimate | $73,557,220.94 | 9.0% |
| Duty disability: 177 disabled officers · Our estimate | $10,960,720.33 | 1.3% |
| Refunds to people who left · Our estimate | $9,163,948.53 | 1.1% |
| Widows' compensation (service-connected death): 65 widows · Our estimate | $3,782,105.60 | 0.5% |
| Death benefits · Our estimate | $1,557,482.13 | 0.2% |
| Ordinary disability: 29 disabled officers · Our estimate | $1,288,159.56 | 0.2% |
| Children's annuities: 166 children · Our estimate | $1,127,120.16 | 0.1% |
| Occupational disease disability: 18 disabled officers · Our estimate | $990,838.13 | 0.1% |
| Children's disability: 101 children · Our estimate | $94,781.49 | <0.1% |
Sources
- data/leaves_pensions.json (fund actuarial valuations 12/31/2025)
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