Get the latest news from around Illinois.
WTTW Chicago Tonight: Congestion Charge a Tough Sell for ‘Overtaxed’ Chicagoans
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has floated the idea of introducing a congestion tax for vehicles traveling into the downtown area as a way to reduce gridlock while raising revenue to help plug a $838 million budget deficit.
Adam Schuster, director of budget and tax research at the Illinois Policy Institute, argues that while there is nothing intrinsically wrong with a congestion charge, “the devil is in the details.”
Chicago Tribune: Watchdog accuses County Clerk Karen Yarbrough of running ‘illegal patronage’ operation, wants court oversight
Less than a year into office, Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough faces potential federal court oversight of hiring amid a watchdog’s accusations that she’s “running an illegal patronage employment system.”
Veteran anti-patronage attorney Michael Shakman said in a new legal filing that Yarbrough has put the politically connected into jobs that are supposed to be free from such influence, asked her employees for campaign contributions on their private cellphones and transferred certain supervisors to far-flung offices in hopes they’ll quit.
Chicago Tribune: ‘We have got to see progress’: Lawmakers push DCFS for plans after troubled child welfare agency gets first major funding boost in years
Lawmakers on Tuesday pressed officials with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services about how the agency plans to spend an additional $128 million in state and federal funding that it received for 2020, the most significant boost to its coffers after years of budget cuts.
Testifying at a hearing convened by the Illinois House Adoption & Child Welfare Committee, DCFS officials said a large portion of the funds will go toward a 5% rate increase for private social services agencies that contract with the department. The agencies, which handle about 85% of DCFS intact family and foster care cases, had not received cost-of-living adjustments since 2015, according to the department.
WBEZ: Cook County Forest Preserves Might Pitch Property Tax Hike To Voters
When Cook County voters head to the polls for the March primary election, they might be asked to open their wallets, too. There could be a referendum on the ballot asking voters to approve a property tax hike for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.
The district spans nearly 70,000 acres, a vast collection of natural areas where people can hike, fish, ride horses and even zip line. Yet the forest preserve district needs an infusion of money for its ambitious long-range plans to protect and restore land, acquire even more to protect it from development, and increase pension payments for employees.
Crain's Chicago Business: Head tax, LaSalle Street tax, vacancy tax on progressives' checklist for Lightfoot
The coalition identified 13 revenue proposals—five require approval from state lawmakers—that they said together could raise more than $4 billion.
Chicago Sun-Times: Lightfoot takes aim at costly perks and staffing requirements in firefighters contract
Runaway overtime at the Chicago Police Department isn’t the only item in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s cost-cutting crosshairs.
She also hopes to hammer out a new firefighters’ contract that eliminates treasured union perks and outdated staffing requirements that cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago Housing Authority has acting CEO after former boss resigns early for job in Atlanta, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office says
The Chicago Housing Authority has an acting CEO after the former agency boss bolted for a job in Atlanta, according to Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration.
Eugene Jones Jr., who had been the CHA’s CEO for more than four years, had announced last month that he was resigning but would stay on until Sept. 27. But Jones has resigned as CEO effective immediately and James Bebley, the agency’s longtime chief legal officer and general counsel would be replacing him as acting CEO, the mayor’s office said Tuesday in a statement.
Northwest Herald: Appellate court upholds rulings against Algonquin Township Highway Department
Rockford Register-Star: Spending plan eludes Winnebago County Board as deadline looms
Jaime Salgado said he favors raising property taxes to help Winnebago County chip away at a projected $4.8 million budget deficit for the county’s 2020 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
Salgado, who chairs the County Board Finance Committee, failed on Tuesday to persuade a majority of his committee members to support higher taxes to solve the county’s budget woes.
Decatur Herald & Review: Decatur school board discusses renovations, budget
Stephen Decatur Middle School renovations on project-based learning classrooms are expected to be complete by the end of the month, according to district officials.
Updates on the progress of renovations to Decatur public schools facilities involved in the districts wide-ranging BOLD facilities plan were presented during the Tuesday school board meeting. The plan has been a focal point of the school board’s vision to turn District 61 into a destination district for families.