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Tag: pension

  • Knock for Akpabio over pension law

    Knock for Akpabio over pension law

    A political commentator, Mr Sunday Ekong, has condmened Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio over the pension law.

    He said though Akpabio has repealed the law he still deserved some knocks.

    Ekong, a former Travel Manager of Daily Times Plc in a statement, said: “Of late, the Akwa-Ibom State government was in the news, negatively though. Its state House of Assembly had just passed into law what sane minds regarded as the most vitriolic pension/retirement law that aimed at milking the state’s treasury dry and rendering the already destitute citizens poorer than ever. Acquiescing to the obnoxious law by Governor Godswill Akpabio was an indication that the leadership of the state did not mean well for the citizens.

    “Even though the law has been repealed after much pressure from within and outside the state; not excluding some stalwarts of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), it reflects the true state of affairs in and around Governor Akpabio’s administration.

    “Even ahead of their end of tenure, only a no confident vote is enough as terminal reward for the Governor Godswill Akpabio’s administration. Views from sound and unbiased individuals suggest that the Speaker of the Akwa-Ibom State House of Assembly on whom the governor had showered so much encomiums for passing the anti-people law has betrayed the people.

    “The review of pension benefits to past governors and deputies need not be the pre-occupation and prerogative of an incumbent. We hold this view because to revoke an obnoxious law may be a mission impossible, futile and intractable exercise for a fair-minded successor. A no confident vote is the answer now as the first reaction by the people.

    “A drastic disease needs a drastic treatment to avert the devastating effects of the time bomb. This shot is not yet lighted and our safest bet is to avoid the aim.

    “In the changing fortunes of time, it may be an illusion to figure out the workability of a policy that was intentionally meant to fail. In it, government’s programmes may be put on hold, forced to collapse or crash out.

    “Even as the pension law has been repealed, the people of Akwa-Ibom State, a predominantly civil service society, are a surviving lot, denied of their due dignity of labour and purchasing power.

    “Teachers, constituting over 75per cent of the state’s workforce, have gone without salaries for more than four months. Election campaigns for Senate have continued uninterrupted not minding the security implications it has on state and the country.

    “By 2015, Akwa-Ibom State shall continue to remain the only state in Nigeria without a single tangible industry. Their account of achievements and development, being relative term are mere window dressing and painted sepulchers to the great minds and discerning people of Akwa-Ibom State.

    “The most unfortunate thing which definitely cannot be taken for fun is that those who are going to suffer Governor Akpabio’s legacy of inhumanity to man which he will bequeath to the state and their generations unborn, had the law remained, are not in any position to know what has befallen them.

    “This legacy of ill-will which Governor Akpabio wanted to introduce to the state needs the attention of Senators and members of the House of Representatives of Akwa-Ibom State origin to halt its repetition by any governor of the in future.”

  • ARM Pension grows fund to N340b

    ARM Pension grows fund to N340b

    ARM Pensions Limited, a Pension Fund Administrator has grown its funds to N340billion in a 10-month period ended December 31, 2013, representing a 28 per cent growth.

    Its Managing Director, Sadiq Mohammed who made this known, said the firm’s subscriber base also appreciated in the period with over 539,075 contributors currently holding accounts with the company.

    He noted that the company has changed its financial year-end from February to December in line with the National Pension Commission’s (PenCom) directive of a uniform financial year-end for Pension Fund Administrators.

    He further said that ARM Pensions’ gross revenue grew by 16 per cent to N3.3 billion over the 10 month period, adding that when compared to February 2013, profit before tax (PBT) and profit after tax (PAT) grew by 37 per cent and 27 per cent to N1.9 billion and N1.3 billion respectively.

    He said: “In line with the directive of the National Pension Commission on uniform financial year end for Pension Fund Administrators, the company shifted its financial year-end from February to December.

    “On a comparative basis, over a 12 month period of January to December 2013, ARM Pensions’ fund under management, grew by 37 per cent, revenue appreciated by 43 per cent, while profit before tax for the same period went up by 86 per cent.”

    Mohammed said ARM has a successful track record of protecting and growing investments for private investors and institutions for over a decade and we are committed to creating value for its contributors and retirees.

    “We appreciate the desire of every employee to maintain a comfortable standard of living after their active working life. Therefore, we have built our core tenets around the preservation of, and superior returns on, pension assets and investments, as well as prompt and efficient benefit administration.This also reflects our overall investment philosophy, which is aimed at delivering consistent long-term growth through value investing and rigorous risk management.”

    “ARM Pension Managers (PFA) Limited was among the first seven (7) Pension Fund Administrators licensed by the National Pension Commission in 2005.” a subsidiary of investment management firm Asset & Resource Management Company Limited was committed to creating value for its retirees”, he said.

  • Wanted: Fraud-free pension system

    Wanted: Fraud-free pension system

    The trend is worrisome. A situation where tax payers’ money is spent on public hearings and probes of serious isues and at the end, the outcome does not see the light of day. This practice is simply put, untenable.

    Apart from the resources usually committed into such exercise(s), a lot of manpower and energy is also wasted.

    This happens not only at the executive arm alone but also at the legislative arm of government.

    Between May 1999 and now, many of such reports have emanated from the National Assembly. The question that comes to mind is what has happened to these reports or why were some of those probes aborted midway?

    One of such investigative hearings is that of the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service Matters, which is popularly known as Pension Report Investigative hearing. It was a hearing that elicited a lot of interests from within and outside Nigeria.

    The first public hearing on the matter was held on March 6, 2012, during which the Senate committee suspended of the Pension Task Force Team (PTFT) led by Alhaji Abdulrasheed Maina, even when the Task Force had not appeared before it.

    The Task Force, duly set up by the Federal Government, was saddled, primarily, with restructuring the pension system. Its membership was drawn from the various anti-corruption agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC and the State Security Service, SSS as well as other para-military agencies. The offices of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Attorney-General of the Federation were also represented on the team. Considering the membership of the Task Force, it would have been logical, sensible and appropriate to have listened to it first before taking any decision. But was this was not the case in that instant.

    Hardly had the Task Force finished its assignment than it was ordered suspended by the Senator Aloysius Etok-led committee, thus suggesting that the Senate committee was set up to achieve a pre-meditated objective of working from the answer to the question instead of the other way round.

    The matter took a new twist when the committee was alleged to have been influenced by the Task Force to look the other way on some issues. Although the committee denied the allegation, some members of the PTFT are insisting that it has not told the public, everything it knows about the pension scam.

    One of the accused persons in the pension saga, Dr Sani Shuaibu Teidi, who is currently standing trial, had alleged in an interview that they reached an agreement with the committee to give them a soft landing.

    Senator Etok has always absolved the panel of any wrongdoing. He even asked the EFCC, the Police and the SSS to investigate him and panel. In fairness to him, nothing has been found against him.

    Some questions are, however, begging for answers. Why did the committee suspend the Pension Task Force Team? Was that the right thing to do at that time? Was there any law that allows such to be done? Was the step in tandem with the rule of fairness and natural justice?

    In a recent interview, Senator Etok said: “My job at the Senate is quite challenging and interesting. It is interesting in the sense that I deal directly with the welfare of the people as well as the future of Nigerians. My committee oversees a critical sector of the Nigerian public service. I chair the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service Matters. We oversee recruitment, promotion and discipline of civil servants. We also deal with pension matters of the civil, public, military and the police services. It is a very sensitive and challenging assignment”.

    Has the panel fairly dealt with pension matters as claimed in the interview? Many Nigerians are still waiting eagerly to see how this issue will be resolved. How the issue is settled will speak volumes on whether the Senate, is ready to assist the Federal Government in fighting corruption or not.

  • Akpabio and pension

    Akpabio and pension

    •The Akwa Ibom State governor’s decision to repeal the controversial law reflects sensitivity to and triumph of public opinion

    Contrition is a better virtue in government than hubris, and governance of such quality realises the humanity of leadership.

    This is one way to characterise the radical about-face by the Akwa Ibom state Governor, Godswill Akpabio, when he announced Tuesday that he would repeal the controversial pension law that gave  ex-governors and deputies who had served the state – with their wives – a humongous pension bill and other benefits.

    When it was announced after the state house of assembly ingloriously passed it into law, it raised a dust of disgust among many Nigerians, including stake holders in the state. It was characterised as a signal of alienation between the well-heeled political elite and the masses. And this indignation was justified. It had pegged a limit of N100 million as medical allowances for each ex-governor with the spouse for a year and N50 million a year for the deputies and their spouses.

    In responding to the groundswell of criticism, Governor Akpabio said, “Truth has been under siege and today I have decided that we should lift the evil siege by proposing to the House of Assembly that the parts of the amendment putting a N100 million ceiling on medical treatment of former governors and former deputy governors respectively be expunged from the amendment.”

    He stated further that, “Let it revert to the open-ended situation inherent in the law, before the amendment.” This pirouette can be seen as an act of bowing to pressure. But it must be commended for its act of courage and sensitivity to public sentiment.

    We commend members of the public who roundly condemned the pension package compelling a rethink on the law. This is the way democracy should work.

    Governance is not about perfection. It is about a listening ear. We have seen governments since the inception of this democracy make decisions and swagger over them in spite of the public’s lack of ease with its moral roots and philosophical perspective.

    We must add that as in the case of Governor Akpabio and for others in political office, prevention is better than cure. They should involve  more consultations rooted in the popular pulse before making some decisions of this sensitive character in order to avoid the embarrassment of popular censure.

    The extant law to which Governor Akpabio seeks to return is also flawed, and it gives ex-governors with greed in their eyes the opportunity to pursue claims that may even exceed the controversial N100 million. Any governor with contempt for the purity of public funds or the dignity of his appending signature could sign off on any bill even amounting to N150 million.

    It is interesting that the law passed then without any public uproar. It was perhaps because the public did not imbue such law with the fear that our politicians could abuse them once out of office. But that anxiety continues to dog a wild and spendthrift political elite.

    Governor Akpabio noted also that, “I will further advise, in observance of the articles of faith guiding the discharge of the office of governor that, through extant circulars, a medical insurance scheme be put in place for that authentic and proper management of the medical treatment of former governors and deputy governors and their spouses in order to ensure that the open-ended nature of the law is not abused.”

    This is also right. But law is one thing and its adherence quite another and much depends on the integrity of its executors.

    We must note that while umbrage dogged the footsteps of Akwa Ibom over the controversial pension package, we know that quite a few states in the country have pensions that are elitist and alienating. Few ex-governors and deputies can claim they do not have such highfalutin benefits today.

    The more fundamental question is: why all these benefits if the purpose of governance is service? And that is a question to ponder not only in Akwa Ibom but all over our political class in Nigeria.

  • Pension Alliance takes financial literacy to schools

    Pension Alliance takes financial literacy to schools

    Pension Alliance Limited (PAL), a Pension Fund Administrators (PFA), has taken financial literacy awareness campaign to primary and secondary schools across the country.

    The pension manager also intends to consolidate ongoing efforts in the financial services market of creating a wider savings culture through financial inclusion as being promoted by the various financial industry regulators – Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), among others.

    Its Managing Director, PAL, Dave Oduanu, who led a team of the company to Home Science Association Primary School, Ikoyi, Lagos, said the firm  believed that inculcating the tenets of good financial management into young generation of Nigerians at an early stage of life will build in them the savings culture.

    He said this had eluded adult Nigerians.

    He said: “On this campaign kick-off tagged “Financial Literacy Initiative in Schools”, which coincided with the Children’s Day, PAL is engaging 25 schools in Nigeria with 20 in Lagos and five in other parts of the country.

    “In the past, we used to have CSR whereby we visit motherless babies’ home and old people’s home to donate things to them. But this year, we thought we should expand it to promote financial literacy in a bid to improve financial inclusion.

    “The idea is to teach them what money is all about, how to save money and what to do with money. By so doing, we begin to inculcate the culture of savings in them right from their young age.”

    Uduanu pointed out that if they cultivate the habit, when they grow up the culture of savings will resonate with them.

    He said they also gave piggy banks to the deserving pupils so that they will begin to save right away.

  • ‘54m workers not registered with pension operators’

    ‘54m workers not registered with pension operators’

    The Chairman Pension Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) Misbahu Yola has said out of about 60 million workers in Nigeria, only six million workers are registered under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

    Yola, who is also the Managing Director Legacy Pension Managers Limited, said this creates a huge gap of over 50 million workers that are yet to be registered under the new scheme.

    He said the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) have a lot of work to do to make sure that employers register their employees as required by the Pension Reform Act, 2004.

    Yola said it took some time for the operators to accumulate the N4.3 trillion pension assets.

    On how the funds are invested, he said they cannot invest all the money in infrastructure as expected by some people.

    He said: “If we invest all the money in infrastructure, then how will we pay the retirees when they come? There is also a structure laid down by PenCom on what percentage of the money is invested.

    “The CPS has an in-built safety mechanism that ensures adequate protection of contributors’ fund and we as the operators are properly regulated to ensure funds are invested in secured investment windows.

    Managing Director First Pension Custodian Limited, Kunle Jinadu, noted that the funds deposited with the custodians are safe.

    He said his firm’s priority is to ensure that contributors derive benefits from the scheme at retirement.

    He said as a custodian, they have deployed safety mechanisms in ensuring that good governance is implemented around the pension fund.

    ‘’This is something we have done under this pension regime that has brought some reduced noise about people and their pension contribution, he said.

    “The custodian with whom I work in the creation of the law which brought about creating safety verve for the funds is for us to make sure that the funds are available for investment and payment of pensions to retirees.

    “Our role is to ensure that the fund does not end up in wrong project or wrong hands. Every custodian is made to guarantee all the funds. At First Custodian, which is part of the First Bank Group, we hold a percentage of the funds and irrespective of the PFA who is in charge of managing the funds, we, as a PFC, is responsible for that portion of fund in our custody.

    “We guarantee lawyers and the general public that the primary objective in this current regime is to ensure the funds are safe. We don’t have a problem with creating investment windows but we insist that the number one principle is that the assets are safe. So, when the PFA is migrating into infrastructure, etc, there must be an enabling environment that will enable me as a custodian to hold control of the investment such that it does not disappear into wrong places”, he added.

  • Matters arising over Reps’ pension reform bill

    The House of Representatives last week adopted the report of its Committee on Pensions on the long-awaited pension reforms bill. Dele Anofi in this report highlights the components of the bill 

    The this is a notable achievement and a plus to pensioners in Nigeria whose life savings have become a target for corrupt public officials. Chairman of the committee, Hon Ibrahim Kamba, said that much while speaking on the pension reform bill.

    Owing to the noticeable challenges in the pension system, including the sharp practices in the country’s pension administration exposed during the National Assembly’s probe, it became imperative for the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to introduce the pension reform bill, in order to help confront the challenges therein.

    He added, “We are pleased that the National Assembly was on the same page with the executive in supporting the reorganisation of the pension industry by passing this Pension Reform Bill. It demonstrates a serious effort on the part of the Nigerian government to overhaul its policies concerning our pension system and its administration, with a view to aligning them with international standards.”

    The bill creates new offences and prescribes stiffer penalties that will serve as deterrence against the mismanagement or diversion of pension funds. For instance, it prescribes harsher penalty of 10-year jail term for anyone who misappropriates pension fund in addition to refunding three times the amount embezzled. The purpose for this is to provide a deterrent to potential looters and help check unfettered looting of funds in pension administration.

    The bill also strengthened the streamline pensioners’ entitlements by further establishing the Pension Transmittal Arrangement Departments (PTADs) to take over the remittance of benefits to pensioners under the defined benefits scheme. These PTADs are expected to ensure greater efficiency and accountability in the administration and payment of pensions under this scheme because pensioners are now to receive their pensions directly rather than through the various Pensions Departments, which have problematic to them. It is also expected that with the coming of this department, the story of pension fund looting will become a thing of the past.

    Apart from introducing uniform rules, regulations and standards for the administration of pensions for both the public and private sectors at the Federal, States and Local Government levels, the bill is also designed to ensure that workers get their retirement benefits as and when due.

    On the controversial minimum experience required of any candidate for the position of director general of National Pension Commission (PENCOM), the House scraped the present 20 years minimum experience and adopted any “fit and proper” person for the appointment.

    Explaining the rationale behind this, Kamba said, “We have now laid emphasis on competence, integrity, fit and proper persons to expand opportunities for the engagement of professionals to manage pension administration in Nigeria.  This is in line with international and local best practices in pensions and financial regulatory agencies. We have now aligned the Pension Reform Act in line with the CBN, FIRS, and NDIC laws.”

    Contrary to this position, the Senate pegged the minimum required experience at 15 years after senators rejected an open required similar to that passed by the House.

    Chairman of the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service, Senator Aloysius Etok, explained, “When the committee report got to the chamber on the first day of presentation of the report it the committee’s recommendation of a fit and proper person was rejected and 15 years of post qualification was adopted.

    “So the post qualification experience for the one who would be DG of PENCOM is 15 years. In Nigeria professional pension administration would be about 10. And because we are talking about cognate experience not post qualification experience.

    “If you are talking about post qualifications experience what about somebody who has 30 years post qualification experience with two years cognate pension experience. Is he better than someone with 10 years cognate experience in pension administration?

    “So having realised that we have slightly below 10 years professional pension administration experience possessed by anybody in this country, we decided if somebody must have had 5 years somewhere else and then have additional 10 years cognate experience in professional pension management. That would be a fit and proper person to serve as DG. So, the current situation as contained and accepted is 15 years post qualification experience for the post of DG PENCOM.”?

    The two committees will now meet to harmonise that part before it is transmitted to the President for accent.

    “We are almost certain that President Goodluck Jonathan would sign the Bill into law urgently and urge him to do so to enable implementation start in earnest”, the House Pensions Committee chairman said, while adding, “This is a legislation we can all be proud of because if fulfills the expectations the Nigerian people have in us and will enhance the dignity and livelihood of workers and senior citizens.

    “We believe this pension reform bill will also be a veritable tool in the fight against corruption, especially in our public sector. When workers are certain of getting their full retirement benefits, it decreases the temptation to loot public funds preparatory to their retirement.”

    The passage of the bill came barely a day before May Day and has been hailed to be a gift to Nigeria Workers. “This is in appreciation of the Nigerian Workers’ sacrifice, both those in service and the pensioners, towards the development of our fatherland.? We wish to reassure them that the House and the National Assembly will continue to protect the interest of the Nigerian workers and pensioners?”, the lawmaker stated.

    In January 2013, a director of the Police Pension Office, Mr. John Yusuf, practically walked away scot-free after embezzling billions of naira of police pension funds after he was left off with a bail of N750, 000.

    He was handed a two-year jail sentence for conniving with others to defraud  the office and pensioners of N27.2 billion out of which he admitted to stealing N2bn but Justice Abubakar Talba gave  him an option of fine in the sum of N750,000 for three offences he  pleaded guilty to. Each of the three offences attracts a two-year jail term and the sentences were to run concurrently.

    Yusuf’s case raised national uproar as he was the first to be jailed of persons involved in the N38.8bn Police pension scam. It also exposed the loopholes in the Pensions Act and emphasised the need for urgent reforms in the sector. The Pension Reform Bill, 2014 was sent to the National Assembly by President Jonathan last year.

  • Ontario pension plans to double retirement income, budget

    Ontario pension plans to double retirement income, budget

    Ontario will create a provincial pension plan designed to double retirement income as savings fail to keep up with the swelling ranks of seniors in Canada’s largest province.

    According to Bloomberg reports, the proposed Ontario Retirement Pension Plan, modeled on the federal Canada Pension Plan, would be the first of its kind by any province, according to the 2014-15 budget released on Sunday.

    Ontario said it’s forging ahead with a public plan after the federal government decided against enlarging the CPP.

    More than 35 per cent of households won’t have sufficient savings to maintain similar living standards in their retirement, Ontario Finance Ministry studies show, while seniors will account for 24 per cent of the province’s population by 2035, up from 15 percent now.

    “Unless we take action, future generations of retirees will be left with a lower standard of living,” Finance Minister Charles Sousa said, according to the text of the budget speech.

    “Since the federal government won’t lead, Ontario will lead by developing a made-in-Ontario solution.”

    The province plans to introduce the program in 2017 with an initial target of three million employees, taking in annual contributions of about C$3.5 billion ($3.2 billion), which would be invested. The program could be integrated into the CPP at a later date. Those participating in a comparable workplace program would not be required to enroll.

    “There’s always been a long-standing concern about people in the workforce who don’t have a plan,” Mary Webb, senior economist at Bank of Nova Scotia said in the budget lock-up. “It’s very hard for households to save. The government is focused on the middle.”

  • 10-year jail term for pension thieves

    10-year jail term for pension thieves

    PENSION thieves will get a 10-year jail term if the Pension Reform Bill 2014 is passed into law.

    The bill, described as a labour’s day gift to serving and retired workers, also provides that any Nigerian with cognate experience should head the National Pension Commission (PENCOM).

    It was passed by the House of Representatives on 30th April.

    Briefing reporters yesterday, Chairman House Committee on Pension, Ibrahim Kamba and his deputy, Samson Okwu, said lawmakers took cognisance of the ease with which the management of pension was being manipulated by fraudulent officials.

    Kamba assured that the bill, after harmonisation with the Senate and passage into law, will sanitise pension management with a number of novel clauses.

    To guide against mismanagement and diversion of pension funds, Kamba said: “The bill we have just passed creates new offensces and prescribes stiffer penalties that will serve as deterrent.

    “It prescribes harsher penalty of a 10-year jail term for anyone, who misappropriates pension fund in addition to refunding three times the amount embezzled.

    “The establishment of Pension Transmittal Arrangement Department (PTAD) to take over the remittance of benefits to pensioners under the Defined Benefits Scheme would enhance efficiency and accountability in the administration and payment of pensions.

    “Under PTAD, pensioners are now to receive their pensions directly, rather than through the various Pensions Departments, which have been a problem to pensioners.

    “With this, the story of pension fund looting will become a thing of the past.”

    He added: “Apart from introducing uniform rules, regulations and standards for the administration of pensions for public and private sectors at the federal, state and local government levels, the bill will ensure that workers get their retirement benefits as and when due.”

    Okwu explained that the bill has not lowered the bar of years of experience for prospective and aspiring Director General of PENCOM.

    He said: “That aspect was left open to all qualified Nigerians with cognate experience in pension.

    “We have now laid emphasis on competence, integrity, fit and proper persons to expand opportunities for the engagement of professionals to manage pension administration in Nigeria.

    “This is in line with international and local best practices in pensions and financial regulatory agencies. We have now aligned the Pension Reform Act in line with the CBN, FIRS, and NDIC laws.”

    He further stated: “This is a legislation we can all be proud of because it fulfills the expectations the Nigerian people have in us and will enhance the dignity and livelihood of workers and senior citizens.

    “We believe this pension reform bill will also be a veritable tool in the fight against corruption, especially in our public sector. When workers are certain of getting their full retirement benefits, it decreases the temptation to loot public funds preparatory to their retirement.”

     

  • Chicago pension measures in doubt as Quinn withholds signature

    Chicago pension measures in doubt as Quinn withholds signature

    It’s decision time in Chicago, the moment to rescue sinking pensions that could pull the city under. And nothing is happening, Bloomberg reports.
    Two weeks after Illinois lawmakers approved a bill to help stabilise two of the city’s four municipal retirement systems, Governor Pat Quinn hasn’t said whether he’ll sign it. City Council members, a year from re-election campaigns, are balking at delivering their part of the deal — a $750 million property-tax increase.
    A recovery effort championed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who in 2011 succeeded 22-year incumbent Richard M. Daley, is imperiled as almost $20 billion in unfunded pension promises burden the nation’s third-most-populous city. Chicago’s credit rating has been cut four times since July to three steps above junk.
    “The issue is ‘Whose ox is going to be gored?’” said former alderman Dick Simpson. “It’s a huge hit.”
    Retirement-fund pressure is bearing down on cities across the nation, including bankrupt Detroit and Stockton, California. Chicago has the highest pension costs as a proportion of revenue — 17 per cent — among the largest cities, according to a November report from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

    Considered decision

    “The cost of paying for this is hitting a lot of cities,” said Norton Francis, senior research associate at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center in Washington. “They are surrounded by suburbs, and you don’t want people to move out.”
    Chicago lost seven per cent of its population in the past decade. Among major US cities, none save bankrupt Detroit lost more people. Emanuel’s proposal to raise property taxes during the next five years to help funds for laborers and other workers reverses the 54-year-old Democrat’s earlier opposition to such a measure and underscores the severity of the crisis.