I just sat through the Chicago City Council’s annual budget hearing—two hours worth. And I’m pretty sure I didn’t hear the word ‘balance’ uttered once.
This is a good news, bad news development. On the one hand, city leaders no longer are claiming to balance the budget year after year, only to see spending run higher than revenue every year as well.
On the other hand, it could be a sign that the financial hole only is going to get deeper next year.
The closest the city council came to addressing this issue were a few claims about longer-term progress in reducing the “structural deficit.”
A smaller deficit is still a deficit, however.
As of today, the City of Chicago's website continues to claim that the city balances the budget annually, as directed by state law.