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Crain's Chicago Business: What's in a name? In Illinois politics, a lot.
The recent changing of the legislative guard on the Northwest Side of the city and adjacent suburbs went down as smoothly as a precinct captain’s palm card, with Rosemont Mayor Brad Stephens appointed to fill the term of resigned state Rep. Mike McAuliffe and committeemen tapping state Rep. Rob Martwick to succeed state Sen. John Mulroe, who resigned to take a Cook County judgeship.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago facing ‘extraordinary financial challenges,’ Lightfoot says after latest audit
Mayor Lori Lightfoot acknowledged the city faces looming budget woes because of ballooning public pension costs and other growing expenses as officials on Friday released Chicago’s annual financial audit.
City Hall released the city’s comprehensive financial report, which said that Chicago’s general fund balance — which pays for day-to-day city expenses such as police and fire, garbage hauling, and part of the city’s public employee pension payments, among other things — grew from $288 million in 2017 to $332 million for a surplus of $44 million to end 2018.
Chicago Sun-Times: Lightfoot picks veteran finance expert for city comptroller
Mayor Lori Lightfoot has picked a veteran government finance expert to serve as the city’s comptroller.
Reshma Soni, currently the chief financial officer with the city’s Department of Aviation, is set to start Monday. Soni takes over from Erin Keane, who was appointed by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel and whose last day on the job was Friday, city officials said.
Chicago Sun-Times: Clock begins ticking on potential Chicago casino — possibly a year away
Chicagoans will be able to take a pull on legal marijuana joints at the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1, 2020.
When will they be able to pull the lever on a slot machine inside a city casino? That’s more difficult to say.
Daily Herald: Miscalculation leads to increased tax bills in Wheeling Township
A “miscalculation” of the senior freeze property tax discount by the Cook County assessor’s “mainframe” computer artificially inflated thousands of tax bills for low-income homeowners in Wheeling Township.
Scott Smith, a spokesman for Assessor Fritz Kaegi, said the problem was isolated mainly to Wheeling Township seniors getting the discount, but a “handful” of errors in other townships were discovered as well.
Rockford Register-Star: $31M downtown Rockford street project focuses on pedestrians, public transit
City officials want to make Jefferson and Chestnut streets more bicycle and pedestrian friendly to keep pace with an increasingly residential downtown.
It’s part of a $31 million plan to turn the downtown thoroughfares into “complete streets” with better bicycle and pedestrian amenities, an improved public transit system and a new streetscape. The city is pursuing a $25 million federal grant that would help pay for the project.