While some burbs have gotten into 10 percent debt by spending on big ticket items such as golf courses, according to an in-depth Chicago Tribune analysis, Niles and Morton Grove have kept debt down to tightwad levels.
South suburban Glenwood thought it would be a moneymaker to build a municipal golf course. However, it has left the town with an 11.7 percent general obligation bond debt rate, according to the Chicago Tribune. That's money that its homeowners and residents are on the hook for. The newspaper did an exhaustive analysis of a trend towards suburbs taking on increasing amounts of debt. Some suburbs have rates as high as 20 percent. Evanston didn't build anything flashy, but it did fund infrastructure improvements and an early retirement program at a time its tax base was declining, resulting in general obligation bond debt of 5.6 percent, the newspaper said. At Morton Grove's village board meeting Monday, Mayor Dan Staackmann waved a copy …
