Chicago Public Schools Makes $676 Million Pension Payment On Time

There was doubt as to whether Chicago Public Schools would make its annual pension contribution on time this year; however, with no time to spare, CPS indeed met the deadline for the $676 million contribution.

However, the big payment has left the school with just about a week’s worth of cash on hand.

More from Reuters:

The Chicago Public Schools met a Thursday deadline to complete a $676 million contribution to its teachers pension system, a school spokeswoman said.

The nation’s third-largest public school system had to fully tap an $870 million bank line of credit to make the payment, according to Emily Bittner, the spokeswoman.

With fiscal 2016 ending at midnight Thursday, Bittner said the district has about $83 million in cash, which is up from a projection of just $24 million CPS made after it sold $725 million of bonds in the U.S. municipal market in February.

She added that the $83 million cash on hand estimate represents less than a week of operating expenses for the district.

[…]

CPS received a potential $555 million revenue boost from the Illinois legislature on Thursday mainly for pensions that came out of marathon negotiations this week between Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and legislative leaders.

“This agreement will place our schools on stronger financial ground so that our parents, our teachers, and our principals can focus on the fundamentals of our children’s academic success,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel told reporters.