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Champaign News-Gazette: State's huge public-pension problem growing larger
Our dedicated public servants in Springfield got some more news this week that they most assuredly don’t want to hear.
It comes from the General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecast and Accountability and concerns the state’s public-pension woes.
Chicago Tribune: Mayor Rahm Emanuel floats port district land as Chicago casino location
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday floated a port district site on the Far Southeast Side as the possible location for a Chicago casino, if state lawmakers finally grant the city the long-sought gambling palace.
In a meeting with the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, Emanuel noted his “love-hate” relationship with the idea of a casino but said if the city finally builds one it should be away from the Loop and McCormick Place. Instead, he said it should bring economic development to an area of the city that needs it, before floating an Illinois International Port District site near Pullman as “an example.”
Northwest Herald: Suburban mayors organization has not endorsed Emanuel's fuel tax increase
The executive director of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus said local lawmakers accidentally were listed on a letter supporting Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s effort to raise the state’s motor-fuel tax to fund highway improvements.
Emanuel’s office sent out a news release Tuesday stating that the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus recommended the 19-cents-per-gallon tax be increased by as much as 30 cents. Some members of the caucus that represents 275 municipal governments met Tuesday.
State Journal-Register: Rauner blasts union representation of agency managers
Gov. Bruce Rauner said Wednesday that “illegal unionization of managers in state government” is costing taxpayers big money and disrupting state agency operations.
Speaking at a Chicago news conference, Rauner said his administration has taken steps to remove management positions from union representation and that he hopes Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker continues the effort.
Chicago Tribune: Proposed City Council ordinance would strip Ald. Ed Burke of workers' compensation control
A plan introduced before the City Council on Wednesday would strip Ald. Edward Burke of his control of the city workers’ compensation system, nearly two weeks after federal agents raided his offices.
The ordinance sponsored by Ald. John Arena and other progressive aldermen would place the $100 million-per-year program under the control of the corporation counsel, who is appointed by the mayor. The corporation counsel would have the power to designate people to oversee the fund and to approve payment vouchers.
Chicago Tribune: CTA approves contracts that pave the way for $2.1 billion Red-Purple Line modernization
The CTA board on Wednesday approved contracts for the largest and costliest construction project in CTA history: the massive $2.1 billion Red and Purple Line modernization.
The board also approved 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.
Chicago Tribune: Cook County restores tax on parking apps before January cut took effect
Cook County commissioners voted nearly unanimously Wednesday to restore a 6 percent tax on parking reservations made through apps such as SpotHero that was set to be cut in January.
In October, the board voted to pass a measure changing how parking apps such as SpotHero and ParkWhiz are taxed. Instead of requiring that reservations made through parking apps pay a 6 percent tax to the county, the rate charged to parking garage operators, the ordinance made it so people using the app only pay 1.75 percent — the county sales tax rate. The new tax rate was set to go into effect Jan. 1.
Chicago Sun-Times: Park District still discriminates, decades after consent decree lifted: report
Thirty years after the Chicago Park District’s release from a U.S. Justice Department consent decree, the district still is tinged with racism, funneling more resources to parks in white communities of means while parks in poor black and Latino communities are neglected, according to a report released Wednesday.
The new report by Friends of the Parks, which found significant inequities in programming and capital investments correlating with race and income levels across the city, was issued as the district’s board of commissioners approved a budget for 2019.
Northwest Herald: Algonquin Township trustees reject $168,000 in road district bills
Algonquin Township trustees on Wednesday night rejected about $168,000 in lawyer bills and equipment purchases Highway Commissioner Andrew Gasser submitted for approval.
Supervisor Charles Lutzow and Trustee Rachael Lawrence were absent from the meeting, but the remaining quorum raised questions about Gasser’s expenditures.
Daily Herald: District 211 teachers strike could start Dec. 18
Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 teachers could go on strike as early as Tuesday over stalled contract negotiations, union officials said Wednesday.
But John Braglia, president of Northwest Suburban Teachers Union Local 1211, said he hopes a strike can be averted through the union’s willingness to consider a federal mediator’s suggested resolution.
Bloomington Pantagraph: Unit 5 OKs property tax levy with 9.21% increase
Homeowners in McLean County Unit 5 can expect an increase in property taxes in 2019 as the district pays off new debts, school administrators said.
On Wednesday, the school board approved an estimated 2018 property tax levy of more than $121 million for taxes payable in 2019, which reflects a 9.21 percent increase from the 2017 levy of about $110.9 million.
Bloomington Pantagraph: District 87 approves $44.5 million levy; tax rate flat
The Bloomington District 87 school board approved a total property tax levy of nearly $44.5 million Wednesday night and heard a presentation celebrating diversity at Oakland Elementary School.
The levy — the amount of money the district is seeking from property taxes — represents an increase of less than 1.7 percent over the current year’s tax extension — the amount the district actually gets from the levy. The extension is calculated by multiplying a district’s equalized assessed valuation — its total taxable value of property — by the property tax rate.