Faced with the impossible task of balancing Chicago’s budget without pension reform, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is forced to partially rely on phantom cuts and revenues.
Former City Colleges of Chicago leader charged in $350K kickback scheme
Contracts went to relatives, associates of former vice chancellor in exchange for kickbacks, charges state. Some contracts required no work.
Illinois cellphone taxes are highest in nation, average $374 a year
Taxes alone hike the average Illinois cellphone bill by 31%.
Chicago’s new mayor inherits taxpayers facing biggest public debts of nation’s top 10 cities
Each Chicago taxpayer is on the hook for $119,110 worth of unfunded state, city, county and other local government debt. Many of the pensions driving those debts become Lori Lightfoot’s problem on Monday.
Chicago aldermen give up control of $100M workers’ comp program
A federal corruption charge against Chicago Ald. Ed Burke has led peers to hand control of the $100 million-a-year workers’ compensation program to the city finance department. Burke, who had overseen the program for decades, fought program oversight and staffed it with political allies.
Chicago ‘tow-and-sell’ operation flips 50K cars, buries drivers in debt
Chicago has seized and sold nearly 50,000 impounded vehicles since 2011, hitching drivers to mounting debts, a recent investigation found. The city’s ticketing laws disproportionately harm low-income residents.
2 in 5 Chicago city workers are paid $100K or more
Chicago had nearly 15,000 municipal employees paid at least six figures in 2017, up more than 1,000 from the previous year. That’s more than 40 percent of the city’s workforce.
Ald. Burke prosecution ends battle against auditing Chicago’s $100 million workers’ comp program
Mayor Rahm Emanuel ordered an audit of the city’s $100 million-a-year workers’ compensation program following Ald. Ed Burke’s resignation as finance committee chair. Burke has long fought program oversight.
Proposal would make Illinois gas tax burden the highest in the nation
Springfield is facing mounting pressure to enact a massive state gas tax hike. One proposal would make the average motorist pay as much as $200 per year in additional taxes on gas.
Rahm to Springfield: State gas tax needs to at least double
Departing Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel accelerated calls to boost Illinois’ gas tax to pay for local transportation projects.