Stubborn pension problems and government gridlock earned Illinois another reduction in its credit rating Wednesday, potentially costing taxpayers millions of dollars. Illinois may have to pay an additional $1.5 million annually for each $100 million it borrows for public works projects, said Brian Battle, director of trading at Chicago's Performance Trust Capital Partners. With Illinois selling hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of bonds each year, the extra interest cost could hit $15 million, he said.
