CBS Chicago investigative reporter Megan De Mar says the timing of her latest findings could not be more uncomfortable for City Hall.
As De Mar reports it, Mayor Brandon Johnson has warned that if revenue estimates fall short, mid-year layoffs of city workers could be on the table.
At the same time, De Mar and the CBS Investigators uncovered something that looks small next to a multibillion-dollar budget, but huge when you picture it in real life: city employees and sister-agency workers owing the city at least $23.5 million in unpaid fines and fees.
De Mar says budget experts she spoke with dismissed this pile of unpaid debt as “low hanging fruit,” which is basically a polite way of saying the money is sitting there waiting – if the city actually tries to pick it up.
But De Mar’s reporting asks the obvious question people will ask in a tough year: How serious is the city about collecting money from its own workforce when layoffs are looming for that same workforce?
The Debt Inside City Hall’s Own Ranks
De Mar reports the total includes City of Chicago employees and workers at the city’s “sister agencies,” which she identifies in the report as including the CTA and the Chicago Board of Education.
Her investigation found a striking scale to it.
De Mar says employees of the Chicago Board of Education owe nearly $10 million, and CTA employees owe nearly $9 million, making those two agencies the biggest contributors to the overall total.
De Mar also shares an eye-catching breakdown that makes the story feel almost like a satire of city life.
She reports that Department of Water Management employees owe about $312,000, including $61,000 in unpaid water bills, which is the kind of detail that makes people pause and say, “Wait… the water department owes water bills?”
She says Streets and Sanitation employees owe about $364,000, with $279,000 tied to parking fines and fees.
And De Mar reports Chicago Department of Transportation employees owe about $202,000, with $145,000 tied to parking-related violations.
If you live in Chicago long enough, you learn parking tickets can feel like a tax you didn’t vote on, but De Mar’s point is that these are still debts owed to the city—debts that come due whether you work for the government or not.
De Mar also reports the city’s own data shows this isn’t limited to a small handful of people.
She says more than one in ten Chicago Public Schools employees owe the city money, and more than one in three CTA workers owe some kind of outstanding debt.
That “one in three” number is the type of statistic that will stick in people’s heads, especially for riders who already feel like they’re paying more and getting less.
Why Watchdogs Call It “Low Hanging Fruit”
In De Mar’s report, the sharpest quotes come from government watchdog voices who argue this is one of the easiest categories of debt for the city to deal with – if it wants to.
De Mar interviews Joe Ferguson, the president of the Civic Federation, and she reports that Ferguson believes city employees should be held to the same expectation as everyone else.
Ferguson says, in De Mar’s telling, that employees should be “called upon to pay up” the same way regular taxpayers – who fund those salaries – are called upon to pay up.
De Mar also reports Ferguson’s critique goes beyond one set of tickets or bills.
He says Chicago has built a reputation for not being “terribly ambitious” about debt collection, even though this employee debt should be among the simplest to pursue.
Ferguson, in De Mar’s reporting, acknowledges this does not magically fix the city’s bigger financial problems, but he argues that big fixes are often made from “small bits” stacked together.
De Mar also speaks with David Greising, the president of the Better Government Association, who echoes the idea that collecting from employee debtors could send a message.
Greising tells De Mar this could be a way for the city to show it’s serious about collecting debt – because these aren’t faceless accounts.
They’re people who, as Greising points out, can’t exactly “go underground” if they show up for work.
That’s where the “low hanging fruit” line starts to sound less like a budget cliché and more like a real argument: if the city can’t collect from people on its own payroll, the city’s broader debt-collection talk starts to feel like theater.
Still, it’s worth saying out loud: there’s a human side here too, and De Mar’s story sits right on that fault line.
People get behind on bills for all kinds of reasons, and “employee” doesn’t mean “comfortable,” especially in a city where housing and basic costs can feel like a daily grind.
But De Mar’s reporting also makes it hard to ignore the fairness question—because most residents don’t get the benefit of being an insider when the bill comes due.
City Hall’s Answer: Payment Plans, Portals, And “Goodwill”
De Mar reports that City of Chicago Comptroller Michael Belsky told her the city will try to collect outstanding debt “to the extent that we can.”
That phrase – “to the extent that we can” – sounds cautious, and De Mar’s report makes clear why: much of the debt sits with workers at agencies the city does not directly control.
De Mar says Belsky noted that because the CTA and Board of Education are independent, collecting from those employees may require cooperation, which he described as “goodwill.”
Belsky also tells De Mar he may consider an intergovernmental agreement down the road with leadership at those agencies to help collect the debt.
That “down the road” part will jump out at anyone who has ever watched Chicago politics move slowly on issues that aren’t a crisis – until they become one.
De Mar also reports that not all of the debt is just sitting untouched.
She says Belsky told her that out of roughly $20 million owed by CTA and Board of Education employees, about $7 million is already on payment plans.
De Mar adds that the city offers several debt relief and amnesty-style programs, and she reports the Department of Finance has launched a new online portal intended to consolidate debt information across the city.
She also reports the city conducts routine debt checks for employees, including during the hiring process.
According to De Mar, employees must resolve outstanding debt or enroll in approved payment plans before they start work.
That’s an important detail because it suggests the city does have tools, and it does have a system – yet the unpaid balance still grows to tens of millions.
De Mar notes that the CTA did not provide comment for her story, which is a quiet line but a loud message.
When the biggest chunk of the debt is tied to a major public agency, silence tends to frustrate the public more than any quote would.
The Bigger Question Before Layoffs
De Mar’s reporting lands in a place where people can reasonably feel two things at once.
On one hand, $23.5 million is real money, and if city leaders are warning about layoffs, the public is going to ask why the city isn’t being more aggressive about collecting what it is already owed – especially from within its own system.
On the other hand, there’s a risk of turning this into a simple “gotcha” story that ignores real life.
Not every unpaid ticket equals bad character, and not every overdue bill is a sign of someone gaming the system.
But what makes De Mar’s piece hit harder is the optics.
If layoffs are looming, the city is asking workers to fear losing their livelihoods.
At the same time, the city is tolerating – at least to some degree – a culture where large sums pile up unpaid by the workforce inside the system.
And when budget officials call it “low hanging fruit,” it can come across like they’re shrugging at something that regular residents would never be allowed to shrug off.
The cleanest version of fairness is simple: one set of rules.
If the city expects residents to pay up, De Mar’s reporting suggests the city has to be willing to enforce that standard consistently, even when the debtor is wearing a badge, driving a city vehicle, teaching in a school, or clocking in at the transit agency.
Because in a year where the city is talking layoffs and scarcity, leaving “low hanging fruit” on the ground doesn’t just look wasteful.
It looks like a choice.
Raised in a small Arizona town, Kevin grew up surrounded by rugged desert landscapes and a family of hunters. His background in competitive shooting and firearms training has made him an authority on self-defense and gun safety. A certified firearms instructor, Kevin teaches others how to properly handle and maintain their weapons, whether for hunting, home defense, or survival situations. His writing focuses on responsible gun ownership, marksmanship, and the role of firearms in personal preparedness.
