Explore our content

All types | All dates | All authors
Chicago City Council
Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
10:14am
Mon Aug 16, 2010

The Chicago Teachers Union's TIF Proposal

Tax increment financing (TIF) has become a central component of the Chicago Public Schools budget debate this summer. Last week, WBEZ reported that the Chicago Teachers Union was pushing aldermen to support an ordinance that would allow some TIF money to be returned to the school district. Because there are several ways in which TIF money could be sent back to CPS headquarters, we asked CTU for a bit more clarification about the approach they prefer. Here's what they told us over the weekend:

The CTU's preferred approach to TIFs are returning the $1.2 billion TIF surplus as a short-term option that would give Chicago Public Schools and all public services a much-needed shot in the arm.  For a long-term fix, TIFs should only exist in truly blighted areas and the monies held and spent as a trust by local community members and officials.

On Tuesday at Lane Tech High School, CPS will hold its first of three public budget hearings. The meeting begins at 6 p.m.

PI Original
by Aricka Flowers
1:39pm
Tue Aug 10, 2010
2 comments

Understanding The Aldermanic Exodus: An Interview With Dick Simpson

City Hall

There could be some heavy turnover at Chicago's City Hall this winter. We run through the political landscape with University of Illinois-Chicago political science professor and former Chicago alderman Dick Simpson.

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
11:12am
Mon Aug 9, 2010
4 comments

"We Could Have Done That Ourselves"

That's Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward), parking meter privatization opponent and rumored Chicago mayoral challenger, speaking to Bloomberg reporter Darrell Preston over the weekend about the city's parking meter sell-off. According to documents related to the deal, the partnership of investors that dished out $1.15 billion to "purchase" the city's meter system is on pace to earn at least $9.58 billion in profits over the next 75 years. All the Morgan Stanley allies had to do was pay the up-front cost to Mayor Daley, raise the meter rates marginally, invest about $40 million in capital improvements, and watch the revenue rush in. 

If the council had followed the advice of Waguespack or Ald. Rey Colon (35th Ward), that money could be headed straight into Chicago's coffers. Instead, it's padding the paychecks of politically-connected banks. And future taxpayers will have to cover the loss.

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
11:19am
Fri Aug 6, 2010

Take The Bond Downgrade Seriously, Chicago

In a written statement issued yesterday, Chicago's Chief Financial Officer Gene Saffold pooh-poohed the news that Fitch Ratings is downgrading Chicago's bond rating on billions in outstanding general obligation bonds. Saffold said the city didn't believe the decision "will have a significant impact on our long-term borrowing costs," mainly because officials at City Hall see the financial crisis as the main driver of Chicago's budget woes.

That's true enough. Like the state and municipalities nationwide, Chicago has seen its tax revenues dip sharply over the past two years. But the report underlies some fundamental problems with the city's budget practices. Fitch specifically criticized Mayor Daley's decision to use reserve funds (like those created by the parking meter and Skyway privatization schemes) to cover operating expenses over the last several years. Those operating deficits wouldn't be so high if the city hadn't siphoned off so much property tax revenue into its tax increment financing "shadow budget," either. Over 90 percent of Mayor Daley's own property tax bill, for example, is tossed into that fund instead of toward regular taxing bodies. In other words, there are reasons why Chicago's long-term outlook is "negative" while those of other cities remain stable.

PI Original
by Adam Doster
9:46am
Thu Aug 5, 2010

Daley's Defensive TIF Stance

Tax increment financing

At yesterday's State of the City address, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley sounded like a politician who had no intention of ceding control over his tax increment financing empire to ease Chicago's budget woes.

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
9:30am
Thu Aug 5, 2010

Munoz To Endorse Coal Plant Ordinance

Frustrated with a lack of action to curb carbon emissions on Capitol Hill, Ald. Rick Munoz (22nd Ward) told WBEZ' Chip Mitchell yesterday that he will sign on as a co-sponsor of Chicago's Clean Power ordinance, which would force coal plant operators within the city limits to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 50 percent and soot-producing particulates by 90 percent within the next four years. This is a huge win for the environmentalists pushing the bill; one of Chicago's two coal-fired power plants operated by Midwest Generation -- the key target of the ordinance -- is located in Munoz' ward. Not coincidentally, the polluter has showered Munoz with campaign contributions over the past decade.

Munoz' move means that another key holdout, Ald. Danny Solis (25th Ward), now has no real cover to vote down the ordinance on parochial grounds. (Solis represents the ward in which the other Midwest Generation plant is located.) Neither do the rest of the stragglers on the City Council, whose wards would experience serious air quality improvements as a result of the proposed regulation.