Report: Taxpayers might bear costs of Obama library project

Chicago taxpayers might find themselves saddled with a hefty financial burden as the Obama Presidential Center struggles with a severely underfunded endowment meant to shield public funds from project costs.

Tax filings recently disclosed that the Obama Foundation has set aside just $1 million of a promised $470 million reserve fund for the center, igniting concerns that soaring costs and funding gaps could force local taxpayers to cover the shortfall if the project falters, as Breitbart reports.

The Obama Presidential Center, designated as the official presidential library for former President Barack Obama, started construction in September 2021 on a 19.3-acre parcel of Jackson Park, a treasured public space often referred to as Chicago’s equivalent of Central Park.

Endowment Commitment Remains Largely Unfulfilled

As part of its agreement with the city of Chicago, the Obama Foundation pledged to create a robust endowment to ensure that taxpayers would not be financially responsible if the project encountered difficulties.

This reserve, targeted at $470 million, was designed to offer lasting security by maintaining the principal sum while using generated interest to handle ongoing operational expenses without needing additional public or private support.

However, when construction began in 2021, a mere $1 million—representing only 0.21% of the committed amount—had been deposited into the fund, and subsequent tax filings show no further contributions have been added since that initial amount.

Construction Costs Escalate Far Beyond Plans

Adding to the financial uncertainty, the expense of constructing the center has surged dramatically from an early estimate of $330 million to a staggering minimum of $850 million.

The project has also faced significant delays in construction, heightening worries about its fiscal health, as detailed in a comprehensive report by Fox News, which noted the deal was intended as a safeguard for taxpayers.

With such a small fraction of the endowment secured, there is increasing apprehension that public resources could be tapped to cover deficits if the center’s funding model proves unsustainable amid these rising expenditures.

Critics Decry Potential Public Financial Risk

Illinois GOP Chair Kathy Salvi has publicly denounced the initiative, describing it as a glaring instance of political bias that endangers the financial well-being of state residents.

She asserted, “It should come as no surprise that the Obama Center is potentially leaving Illinois taxpayers high and dry — it’s an Illinois Democrat tradition.”

Salvi went on to say, “Democrats in this state, when not going to prison for corruption, treat taxpayers like a personal piggy bank giving sweetheart deals to their political benefactors.”

Experts Sound Warning on Funding Shortfalls

Richard Epstein, a professor emeritus at the University of Chicago and a law professor at New York University, who once advised a group contesting the allocation of public parkland for the center, has voiced serious reservations about the financial arrangements.

He remarked, “The city never should have signed over the large section [of the park].”

Epstein also lambasted the endowment’s current state, stating, “They put a million dollars into a $400 million endowment, so it’s endowed. That gets you in jail as a securities matter. An endowment means that you have the money in hand. But they have nothing. … So, I regard this as something of a public calamity.”