Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Mayor Rahm Emanuel to call for legalized weed, Chicago casino and constitutional amendment to fund public pensions
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday will call for state lawmakers to legalize marijuana, allow a Chicago casino and approve a state constitutional amendment to help the city address a looming pension crisis that will require nearly $1 billion in new annual retirement payments by 2023, according to sources familiar with the mayor’s plans.
Emanuel is scheduled to give a speech to the City Council outlining the challenges that remain to properly fund the city’s pensions and offering recommendations on how to tackle the problem, even though he won’t be in office beyond next May to do so.
Daily Herald: How suburban fire chiefs collect both pensions and paychecks
Mitch Crocetti’s job pays pretty well, but his old job pays him even better.
The Pingree Grove & Countryside Fire Protection District chief receives $117,500 a year in his current role, but his pension after his previous 30-year career with the Wood Dale Fire Department also pays him $124,037 annually.
WBEZ: Pritzker Supports Financial Audit Of Lincoln Foundation
Illinois Gov.-elect JB Pritzker wants to audit a financially-struggling foundation that’s asking for state money to pay down a $9.7 million debt for Lincoln artifacts it once purchased, including an expensive stovepipe hat whose ties to Lincoln are unproven.
Efforts to launch a state audit of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation stalled in the waning days of the fall legislative session. But the incoming Democratic governor’s show of support figures to put the issue back on the front burner in Springfield when lawmakers return in January.
Chicago Sun-Times: Showdown vote on TIF reform averted as progressive aldermen seek compromise
A showdown vote over a proposal to rein in tax-increment-financing was averted Tuesday after progressive aldermen agreed to try to forge a compromise with Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
On Monday, progressive aldermen appeared to have the votes to push through a TIF reform ordinance that could thwart Emanuel’s plan for $1.5 billion in TIF subsidies to unlock the development potential of four massive projects in and around downtown Chicago.
Chicago Tribune: CTA expected to approve contracts Wednesday that pave the way for massive Red-Purple Line modernization
The CTA board on Wednesday is expected to approve contracts for the largest and costliest construction project in CTA history: the massive $2.1 billion Red and Purple Line modernization.
The board also is expected to approve a contract for preliminary work on an even larger project: the proposed $2.3 billion extension of the Red Line from 95th Street to 130th Street.
Crain's Chicago Business: Cook County to vote on repealing lower parking-app tax rate
Didn’t know the county has a parking tax? It does: 6 percent. Didn’t know it applied to parking-app companies? Well, there was some question about that, which is when the haggling began.
Hinsdale The Doings: Hinsdale District 86 to eliminate positions, freeze some salaries; may cut clubs and activities
The Hinsdale High School District 86 Board agreed to eliminate four administrator positions, five educational support positions and all music tutors, and freeze the remaining administrators’ and non-unionized support staff salaries for the 2019/2020 school year.
That action Monday is estimated to save about $1.1 million a year, a start toward chipping away at district expenses in order to afford pressing infrastructure repairs and improvements.
Daily Herald: Lake County Board eliminates credit cards for commissioners
In its first act of reform since the November election, the Lake County Board on Tuesday abolished the taxpayer-funded credit cards commissioners have used — and sometimes abused — for more than a decade.
Board members now will have to request reimbursement for legitimate expenses from limited annual allowances, and spending will be reviewed by county staffers.
Rockford Register-Star: Park District 2019 budget includes fee hikes, downsizing plans
The Rockford Park District’s 2019 budget proposal includes price increases for golf, swimming, horseback riding, soccer field rentals, and other programs.
The budget also calls for the district to sell or lease obsolete, inefficient, duplicative or underutilized parks and amenities as it looks to reduce its footprint.
Peoria Journal-Star: Morton board votes to put school facilities sales tax back on ballot
With a bit of reluctance, the Morton School Board voted Tuesday to recommend placing a 1 percent Tazewell County school facilities sales tax on the April 2 ballot.
The same measure was defeated by voters in November by a 51.5 to 48.5 percent margin after it was rejected by larger margins in 2009 and 2013.
Bloomington Pantagraph: Eastland Mall value drops 32 percent in settlement
Eastland Mall will lose nearly a third of its taxable value after its owner and local taxing bodies reached a settlement Tuesday.
CBL Properties, the Chattanooga, Tenn., company that owns the mall property at 1615 E. Empire St., could pay about a third less in property taxes after public officials agreed it’s declined from a property value of $50.7 million in 2017 to $34.4 million this year.