October 12, 2006
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter
"Mayor Daley on Wednesday took the wraps off a feel-good, $5.7 billion budget embraced by aldermen as a blueprint for their re-election and his.
It freezes property taxes for a third straight year, holds the line on all other taxes and fees and uses $94 million of the $1.83 billion Chicago Skyway privatization windfall to finance an array of neighborhood and social programs.
He devoted more time to corruption scandals than his State of the City address did.
"As I've said many times, while we can't change the past, we can learn from it, and I want to assure you that I have," Daley said, unveiling plans to increase the inspector general's budget by 47 percent, or $1.7 million, to create a team of forensic accountants who will audit departments and programs."
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Freeze Property Taxes??? Holds the line on all taxes? Does that mean NO MORE TIFS??? Does that mean they've added enough taxes to restaurants, hotels and cigarettes to satisfy their needs? Or did they realize that Chicago was headed toward losing trade show business with its "too expensive to visit" reputation? How many big corporations have we lost to the expense of operating in Chicago?
Does this mean, if Daley runs and is re-elected that there will be a freeze on TIFS? Does this mean also that Daley will use his veto power to make Club 50 work for their boss, the taxpayer? And, will the inspector general audit individual Club 50 members behind the scenes deals and publish their findings? That would be a 'feel good'!
Links
7 comments:
Press Release from the Mayor's office
Mayor Daley Releases 2007 Balanced Budget
Excerpt:
The Mayor said improved management of City government has made it possible to go a third consecutive year without a City property tax increase.
"That’s why next year the City of Chicago will make new investments in our people and neighborhoods without raising property taxes or any other tax or fee," he said.
Mayor's 2007 Budget Address
Text
PDF
Excerpt:
" ... next year the City of Chicago will make new investments in our people and neighborhoods without raising property taxes or any other tax or fee.
... there will be no increase in any tax or fee next year, including the property tax.
This will be the third year in a row without a City of Chicago property tax increase."
No mention of TIFs in the press release or budget address.
“Modern Schools Across Chicago” is mentioned once but NOT the fact that it will be paid for by TIFs.
Mayor Daley's 2007 budget is a 90% budget. 10% of the property taxes collected from us by the City Chicago remain off-budget and unaccounted-for.
I thought he raised the maximum he cuiold for the tax that goes to the schools, did he rescind this idea?
How many SSA's raised their tax this year.
SSA #19 did. I call that raisng taxes.
So, if Alderman Moore claims he held taxes down, he'd be lying.
> I thought he raised the maximum he cuiold for the tax that goes to the schools
The CTA has an annual doomsday.
The County has record deficits.
The CPS are perpetually on the verge of insolvency.
CPS has raised their tax levy to the legal limit 9 out of the last 10 years, all Daley years, as Daley dispatches BOE flunkies to TIF hearings to assert "TIFs have been very, very good for the schools."
In the middle of all this, a teflon Mayor running on holding the line on property taxes.
The only way you could believe Daley's "no new taxes" claims is if you don't understand TIFs and SSAs, which works pretty good with most Chicagoans.
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