CHICAGO — The cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools has announced plans to relocate its administrative headquarters this year in a move estimated to save $60 million over the next 15 years.
"While the District continues to call for meaningful pension reform to help address our $1 billion budget deficit, we are also working diligently to central office spending by consolidating resources and directing more funds to the classroom," CPS Chief Operating Officer Tom Tyrell said in a December statement.
CPS intends to lease three floors at a new downtown location. Its selection came after reviewing 140 locations and touring a dozen.
The Chicago Board of Education unanimously approved a $6.6 billion budget for fiscal 2014 that closes a nearly $1 billion deficit through a property tax increase, spending cuts and the use of $700 million in unrestricted and restricted reserves. The district faced higher pension payments in the new budget after the expiration of a partial payment holiday.
The use of reserves, a non-recurring revenue source, leaves the district with a structural imbalance and projected $900 million gaps again in fiscal 2015 and 2016. The district's reliance on one-shots like reserves and debt restructuring to balance recent budgets has driven several rounds of downgrades.
CPS' teachers' pension fund has $6.8 billion of unfunded liabilities for a funded ratio of 59.9%.
