Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle rolled out her $4.4 billion FY2017 budget in a brief 27 minute Thursday morning address. The budget includes a one-cent per ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, a net decrease in 211 positions across county government, and a pledge to not raise taxes again for at least the next two fiscal years.

While public school students are firmly planted in their classroom seats and teachers are drawing up lesson plans, Chicago Public Schools public affairs staff have yet to return calls requesting information on how much the CPS-Chicago Teachers Union Tentative Agreement will cost. Already behind the budgetary eight ball, CPS’ 2017 budget relied on the idea that the teachers union would consent to an agreement similar to the one CPS offered last January, which included the phase out of the 7% pension pickup. The teachers did not.

A one-cent per ounce tax on sugar sweetened beverages, estimated to bring in $220 million a year once fully implemented, will be included in President Toni Preckwinkle’s budget proposal today, staffers and stakeholders briefed on the matter confirmed to The Daily Line Wednesday. The president is scheduled to formally present her budget at a special board meeting at 11:00 a.m. today.

The 2017 proposed City budget totals $9.81 billion, including $3.72 billion in the corporate fund and $1.59 billion in grant funding. Police, Fire, and OEMC make up 58% of proposed corporate fund spending. As The Daily Line team continues to review Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s budget proposal, we’ll report our observations. Below is a breakdown of some of the revenues and expenditures expected this year.

Aldermen are scheduled for more briefings this morning on the police department’s plan to hire 250 new officers next year as part of a two year hiring plan. It’s one of several initiatives in Mayor Emanuel’s $9.81 billion budget that aldermen say they’ll be taking a closer look ahead of the budget vote in November.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s 2017 budget includes a $1 million appropriation for a new Municipal ID program that is still largely in the planning stage.

Mayor Emanuel and City Clerk Susana Mendoza, whose department would oversee the program, issued identical press releases Wednesday announcing the initiative as part of the city’s overall budget for 2017. But, according those involved in the implementation of the program, a lot of the finer points have yet to be worked out.

Following Monday night’s marathon contract negotiations between Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union, CPS released additional information on the contract agreements, but did not respond to requests for details on the costs of the agreed contract changes.

 

Mayor Rahm Emanuel unveiled his $9.81 billion spending plan for 2017 Tuesday, providing details on his blueprint to boost hiring at the Chicago Police Department, modernize the city’s 311 system, and continue investments in blighted neighborhoods.

The $9.8 billion FY2017 budget includes about $3.72 billion is corporate fund expenditures, a 3.6% increase over FY2016, and $1.59 billion in grant funding.

Marking their third press release about the new downtown early voting Super Site at 15 W. Washington (where the Walgreen’s used to be), the charming tabulation officials at the Chicago Board of Elections want to remind you that there’s a place at 15 W. Washington that opened today with 150 voting machines ready to handle an onslaught of 4,000 earnest voters a day. (Ed. note: While we have not visited yet, the Board of Elections has flacked it enough that we’re thinking of it as a political junkie tourist site. When I get there, I’m planning to go all Ken Bone on it when I exercise my electoral rights.)

After more than 500 days of negotiations, members of the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Board of Education came to a “tentative agreement” minutes before midnight, averting a strike scheduled to begin just six hours later. Negotiations continued down to the wire, with rumors swirling that Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration would meet CTU demands to sweep extra money from the city’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts to give more to CPS.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel will unveil his FY 2017 budget this morning in the City Council Chambers, which will likely include provisions of a tentative agreement reached with the Chicago Teachers Union late last night. Few other details of the mayor’s budget plan have been revealed, other than the idea of adding a 7-cent tax on plastic bags, according to the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune. This added tax would, in theory, add teeth to the existing plastic bag ban by providing an incentive for customers to bring a reusable bag.

On Saturday morning, Cook County Democratic committeemen unanimously selected Ed Moody to succeed the late 6th District Commissioner Joan Murphy, who passed away on September 18. Moody is the current Worth Township Highway Commissioner and a more than 25 year "active member" of House Speaker Mike Madigan's 13th Ward Democratic Organization, according to his resume. Moody was the presumed top pick by county stakeholders ahead of Saturday's selection meeting. 

After nearly a year of community meetings, hearings, and private briefings, the City Council approved a police reform package that will dissolve the Independent Police Review Authority, the agency in charge of investigating cases of police misconduct, and replace it with a newer agency with a larger budget and stronger authority. While few were fully satisfied with the legislation, the full City Council approved the ordinance at their monthly meeting Wednesday, along with new public decorum rules for council committee meetings. Those rules seemed aimed squarely at concerned citizen George Blakemore.

Meanwhile, as the city prepared for budget season, the Chicago Teachers’ Union is gearing up to strike, prompting renewed efforts by aldermen and education advocacy groups to pressure the Emanuel administration to surplus extra tax increment financing (TIF) money. But not everyone on the City Council is on board with the plan, as TIF dollars are largely used to support economic development in blighted neighborhoods. And some aldermen who represent those areas of the city say they don’t want to hand over their pot of property tax money for what they call a “one-time” fix for CPS.

Nine candidates have thrown their names into the ring to succeed the late Southland Cook County Comm. Joan Murphy, the Daily Southtown reports, but only a handful of real contenders will make their case to Democratic Committeemen in the 6th District. The group will select her replacement at an open meeting Saturday morning (weighted votes of each committeeman below). While the top contender, according to county staffers and stakeholders, appears to be Worth Township Highway Commissioner and Chicago Ridge resident Ed Moody, another challenger, Donna Miller, believes she can drive voter turnout in 2018.

Other candidates have emerged in the past week, as well. Murphy’s daughter, Tricia Murphy, has joined the fray. She was spotted at Wednesday’s meeting of the Cook County Board, and has been reaching out to committeemen. She was often at her mother’s side on political trips, including to the DNC this year, and on National Association of Counties (NACo) conferences.

Crestwood Mayor Lou Presta has also put his name in for the spot. He described the late commissioner as “a good friend” in an interview with The Daily Line shortly after Murphy’s death, and suggested together they put the Village of Crestwood on the rebound after a water contamination scandal. He could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday, but told the Daily Southtown he didn’t think he’d win.

Brian Bernardoni, a lobbyist with the Chicago Association of Realtors and a resident of suburban Justice, also submitted his credentials, but told The Daily Line he’s withdrawing. “In the future, should an opportunity arise, I’d take advantage,” district native Bernardoni said, “But the weight of the township committeemen are clearly outside areas that I’ve lobbied in or had relationships in.”

Asked who committeemen did seem to favor, Bernardoni only said “Moody.” His is the first name County Board staffers will drop when asked who seems to be in the lead with committeemen, and was the first mentioned to succeed Comm. Murphy in the days after her death. Capitol Fax first reported the rumor last month, describing him as “part of a legendary two-man team along with his twin brother Fred... known for tirelessly walking precincts for [House Speaker Mike] Madigan's most vulnerable candidates (among other things),” including a strong local organization around Worth Township. Moody did not respond to a request for comment.

Rich Township Committeeman Tim Bradford, the chairman of the selection committee, is reviewing resumes and background information other candidates, and is winnowing the large field down ahead of Saturday’s vote, Orland Committeeman Michael Carroll told The Daily Line yesterday. Each is assigned a weighted vote based on the number ballots cast for Murphy in the 2014 election:

• Rich (Tim Bradford) = 22.0%


• Thornton (Frank Zuccarelli) = 19.5%


• Bloom (Terry Matthews) = 17.1%


• Worth (John O’Sullivan) = 16.5%  


• Bremen (Maggie Crotty) = 15.3%


• Lyons (Steven Landek) = 4.7%


• Orland (Michael Carroll) = 3.2%


• Palos (Robert Maloney) = 1.3%

The townships with the biggest turnout in previous elections are predominantly black, according to census data, and have slightly more women, something Donna Miller says she intends to play up in her sit-down with committeemen Saturday.

“I think [Ed Moody] has a lot of connections over on the west side of the district, but most of the votes come from east of [Interstate 57]... At one time, the larger voter turnout was west of 57th, and that’s where [Comm. Murphy’s] base was [...] but that’s shifted now,” Miller said in an interview with The Daily Line.

She plans to tout her 30 years of organizing Southland voters, particularly women. She was President of the Democratic Women of the South Suburbs, and served on the League of Women Voters, Planned Parenthood of Illinois, and Illinois Democratic Women. Name recognition is on her side, too, she says. Miller ran for the open 15th District State Senate seat in 2012, but lost to Napoleon Harris by more than eight points–garnering roughly 8,200 votes to Harris' 10,100. Her husband, Dr. David Miller, is also a former State Representative.

Sitdowns begin at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow at the Rich Township Family Service Center, 22013 Governors Highway in Richton Park, Illinois.

Aldermen will be briefed on Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s budget plans–including hiring plans for the Chicago Police Department–ahead of his scheduled October 11th address, according to an internal administration communication email obtained by The Daily Line. The Budget Department will email budget information to aldermen on the Columbus Day holiday.