Chicago News
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Chicago will collect $461 million in Tax Increment Financing revenue in the 2015 tax year, an increase of nearly $89 million over last year, an examination from Cook County Clerk David Orr found. But Orr, in a familiar refrain, noted transparency is still lacking on how revenues from the city’s 146 TIF districts are spent.
“At what point can a taxpayer easily get to the specifics of how certain projects are chosen?” Orr asked in a statement, calling for “a real debate during the budget approval process” over how funds are allocated. He attributes the bounce in TIF revenue to the city’s property tax hikes and increased assessments.
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After some last minute negotiations, the Finance Committee approved a re-work of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed property tax rebate program, including a special “hardship clause” for homeowners with an annual gross income of $50,000 or less.
Attendance: Chairman Ed Burke (14), Joe Moreno (1), Pat Dowell (3), Sophia King (6), Rod Sawyer (6), Gregory Mitchell (7), Michelle Harris (8), Anthony Beale (9), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), George Cardenas (12), Marty Quinn (13), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Derrick Curtis (18), Matt O’Shea (19), Willie Cochran (20), Rick Munoz (22), Mike Zalewski (23), Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Danny Solis (25), Walter Burnett (27), Jason Ervin (28), Ariel Reboyras (30), Scott Waguespack (32), Carlos Ramirez Rosa (35), Emma Mitts (37), Nick Sposato (38), Brendan Reilly (42), Michele Smith (43), Tom Tunney (44), John Arena (45), Harry Osterman (48), Deb Silverstein (50)
No official rules or details as to how the city plans to help homeowners in that income bracket were included in the latest version the committee approved. Instead, at the request of Ald. John Arena (45), a clause was added to the ordinance giving Budget Director Alex Holt the authority to add extra protections for those homeowners. Budget spokesperson Molly Poppe said hardship would be decided case by case, and those who qualify might be eligible to recoup the full amount of their property tax hike.
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Today is the monthly City Council meeting. The Rules Committee is expected to convene in the Council Chambers 45 minutes ahead of the full meeting to reconsider a ballot referendum question from Ald. Walter Burnett (27).
The resolution, which asks Chicago voters if the state and federal government should invest more money in city roads and public transit, ended in a rare tie vote (7-to-7) in committee last week.
Items Pending Approval
- A Property Tax Rebate Plan for Homeowners with a gross annual income of $75,000 or less.
- TIF amendments to aid a three-year City-County partnership pilot program aimed at spurring development in the city’s industrial corridors.
- A more robust recycling program from Mayor Rahm Emanuel, designed to bring large residential buildings into compliance with the city’s single-source recycling program.
- $4.72 million in legal settlements against police officers with the Chicago Police Department
- A more robust vacant building registration program, extending the registration requirement to foreclosed commercial and retail property.
- Repealing the $30 exam fee for the police and fire entrance exam to bolster minority recruiting.
- Appointment of Alicia Tate-Nadeau as the Executive Director of the Office Of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC).
- Appointment of Nancy C. Andrade as a member of the Board of Ethics, to replace Julia Nowicki, who resigned.
- Allowing alley access for motor vehicle repair shops with less than seven parking spaces, to make it easier for small businesses to build out a cheaper commercial driveway off the alley.
- A proposal to create a “Shared Street” on a portion of Argyle Street in Edgewater, as part of a new pilot program to make commercial corridors more pedestrian friendly.
- A substitute ordinance changing public way permitting, allowing the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation to issue those permits upon passage by the City Council, rather than only after “passage and publication.”
- Bid incentives for veteran-owned subcontractors or Veteran-owned small local businesses
- An expansion of the city's apprentice program to CPS graduates (the program is currently for graduates of City Colleges)
- A symbolic resolution on the Department of Homeland Security to designate Ecuador for temporary protected status and to provide temporary immigration relief to eligible Ecuadorians living in Chicago following a devastating earthquake there that resulted in 660 deaths and racked up about $3 billion in damages earlier this year.
- A new Animal Care and Control policy calling for humane treatment of urban coyotes.
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Members of the Chicago Teachers Union will hold a press conference and rally starting at City Hall 9am Wednesday morning ahead of the last City Council meeting before the summer break. “Rahm wants to escape responsibility for our schools. Now that Springfield secured minimal, stopgap school funding he wants us to breathe a sigh of relief and go home,” a release reads. “But CPS still plans to cut hundreds of millions from schools. We say, Not One More Cut! Rahm talks ‘shared sacrifice,’ but teachers have already sacrificed billions. Rahm’s wealthy friends have sacrificed nothing. CTU has outlined ways the City can tax the rich to pay for great schools. Join us at the City Council meeting to demand it.”
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Mayor Rahm Emanuel returned to a familiar spot–Freedman Seating in the 37th Ward–to roll out a new initiative with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle that will cut through red tape and fast-track environmental remediation at old industrial sites. The aim is to sweeten the pot for developers and new businesses to move into low-employment neighborhoods that house old industrial sites.
The plan, dubbed the Industrial Growth Zones program, “is designed to address the two primary issues landowners and developers cite as obstacles to industrial site investment: vacant or unused land’s environmental conditions, and often-complex government regulations.” The pilot program will take place in 7 areas over the next three years.
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A public hearing on Cook County’s fiscal year 2017 forecast will be held this evening in the Cook County Board Room, beginning at 6 pm. Those who wish to testify can fill out a form here. The preliminary budget forecast can be read here, and more on this and previous budgets can be found here. Board President Toni Preckwinkle has also appeared on Chicago Tonight and Politics Tonight to discuss the forecast.
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Lobbying groups won a mid-meeting edit of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s update to the city’s recycling ordinance Monday. Chairman George Cardenas asked the Law Department to change the language on the spot to add a 30 day warning period for big buildings not in compliance. Chicago Association of Realtors lobbyist Brian Bernardoni called the changes “good public policy” that give landlords time to comply before facing steep fines.
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One proposed property tax break for a vacant warehouse located at the southern tip of Bridgeport is the only item on the agenda for the Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development.
The applicant is Howard Wedren, the founder and principal of Dayton Street Partners, a “a niche commercial real estate investment and development firm focused on the acquisition and development of infill industrial, office and retail properties”, according to the company’s website.
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A revised version of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s property rebate plan and $4.72 million in legal settlements against the Chicago Police Department are up for consideration by the Finance Committee this morning.
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Monday’s Zoning Committee was fairly uneventful overall, as all proposed planned development applications were immediately deferred because those items have yet to go before the Plan Commission. A majority of the zoning applications approved were for small development projects, mostly to facilitate the construction of single family homes three-to-four floor, multi-unit residential buildings. A notable number of aldermanic applications were also deferred, as aldermen who had sponsored the zoning changes weren’t in attendance.
Attendance: Chair Danny Solis (25), Vice Chair James Cappleman (46), Proco Joe Moreno (1), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Matt O’Shea (19), Walter Burnett (27), Marge Laurino (39), Brendan Reilly (42).
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In an attempt to fill all three referenda slots by next month’s filing deadline for placement on the November ballot, Ald. Walter Burnett (27) filed a letter with the City Clerk Monday that gives notice of his intention to call up his proposed question on infrastructure spending for a vote by the full body at the monthly Council meeting tomorrow.
Ald. Burnett’s proposed non-binding ballot question asks Chicago voters if they think the state and federal government should invest more money in city roads and public transit. Consideration ended in a rare tie vote (7-to-7) in the Rules Committee last Wednesday.
Under Robert’s Rules of Order a tie technically means a motion failed, but Rules Chair Michelle Harris (8) recessed the meeting and scheduled a second vote 45 minutes before the monthly meeting.
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A proposed change to recycling regulations for large buildings is the big ticket item in the Health and Environmental Protection meeting today, followed by a stalled ordinance from Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) regarding the city’s policy toward urban coyotes, and the expansion of the city’s produce cart program.
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A proposal aimed at curbing massage parlors, a plan from Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in the Elston Corridor, and changes to permitting for billboards are all on today's Zoning Committee agenda.
Similar to last month’s zoning meeting, today’s features a significant number of zoning applications for the construction of new three-to-four story residential buildings or single family homes.
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The Council’s Rules Committee splits in a rare tie vote on a proposed ballot referendum question asking Chicago voters if they think the state and federal government should put more funding toward Chicago transportation infrastructure. The backstory? The Mayor’s Office crowding out a question about Chicago’s airports. Plus: CPS delivers school budgets to principals, while the district’s CEO calls for “creative budgeting,” and two north side activists sue the City Council for violating the state’s Open Meetings Act.
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A mayoral office training document, found lying in an empty City Hall meeting room by a Daily Line reporter, explicitly describes the process of how a City Council meetings work and the important role Ald. Ed Burke (14) plays in the mechanics of Council operations.