Thursday, August 14, 2008
News / Clout City The budget hole: $420 million
Posted by Mick Dumke on 08.14.08 at 02:03 PM
Yes, it's that bad. Chicago budget officials announced at a press conference Thursday afternoon that the city is expected to come up about $141 million short this year and $420 million in the hole by the end of 2009.
The slowed real estate market was a big culprit--the real estate transfer tax will pull in $51 million less this year than it did in 2007. People are also spending less on gas, cigarettes, and bottled water, so tax monies on those items aren't coming in as expected.
And of course city spending is way up--by $28 million over what was budgeted, mostly on snow removal and extra police--despite $20 million in cuts made earlier this year.
Perhaps what was most striking about the announcement was that budget officials refused to outline any strategies for coping with the deficit. Layoffs? "I'm not going to speculate on the number of layoffs or if there will be any," said chief financial officer Paul Volpe. Tax hikes? "Mayor Daley has ruled out a property tax increase.... But we're going to have to make some tough choices." Dipping into the millions of dollars in reserve from the Skyway lease deal? "Today everything is on the table." Reductions in street cleaning, tree trimming, pothole repair? "We hope that any changes we make will have a minimal impact on critical services."
So what is going to happen?
"We're not here today to talk about solutions," Volpe said.
Comments (73)
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I don't suppose he would consider dropping that insane Olympic bid. Athens, Beijing and, already before it starts, London are way in the hole from them. Daley had better not go back on property taxes, or he will find himself with even less of them after people abandon their homes trying to cope with everything else and the highest sales tax in the country.
Wow! Who could see this comming? After listening to the alderman kissing up to the dept heads at the budget hearings, congratulating them on their well-run departments, this is a shocker. I thought our alderman were on top of any budget issues. I really liked the way they grilled Mayor Daley.
Say what you want about Detroit,but we are realist unlike you Chicagoans. We know our Mayor Kilpatrick,is a sack of shit,but soon he will be no more. Daley parades around calling himself a Manager and the White Mayor. Chicago must be populated by crackheads to vote this clown in every four years. Chicago needs term limits for its elected officals and an elected postion to be created for a city Auditor. New York ,and Houston have elected Auditors.
Orion you are a ignorant jerk. You said 'Italians are crooks' Let me tell you something stupid. I am 1/2 Irish and 1/2 Italian. My Italian side are all quite successful in private industry. My cousins all have college degrees. This side of the family is very tight knit and enjoy drinking wine and being with each other. Some served in the military and none have criminal records. My Irish uncles and cousins all have cush city and county jobs. They can all be bought. They do side jobs and take cash only. They all bitch about everything and start fights over nothing. Yep some served jail time and none I know of were in the military. There lives revolve around beer. One even flies a Irish flag and not a US flag in front of his home. Orion you are a jerk. Take it back and apologize. I may look Irish but I am most pleased by surname is Italian.
http://www.wlup.com/airstaff/johnny_audio.aspx Listen to the only one , that hasn't been bought by mayor daley .....The short-fall mayor. go to 8am hour when you hit link!
"uhh, for those that don't think more than 1 step at a time, we ALL should be getting raises. You wanna bitch that we're poor so how dare they give their buddies a raise, what the hell do you think you're gonna do if they tell YOU you're not getting a raise? Dopes. EVERY city employee is entitled to a raise from this city if not for the mere fact that this jagoff has taxed us into a paycheck to paycheck living status in the name of continuing to enrich his friends, pissing away money on things NO ONE other than him and his buddies want, such as moving a stupid museum, and pissing away our tax dollars on his olympic bribery. This fucker (Daley) tells everyone they better find another job, take unpaid days off and forget getting a pay raise while never DREAMING of cutting his FUCKING BULLSHIT SPENDING one penny. Fuck Daley and his extravagant spending for bullshit only he and his enriched friends want. Follow a budget asshole. You come up short, you take the money out of your payola schemes for useless shit and PAY YOUR FUCKING EMPLOYEES and maybe we'll continue spending money in this city. This is the only asshole I can think of who thinks if he fucks over his constituants and they stop spending in Chicago he'll just hit them harder to make up the difference. It doesn't work fuckstick! We'll take ALL our fucking money out of your pocket and you'll be left with no other choice. For a guy who thought he was gonna drive the poor out of Chicago and make it so only upscale people could afford to live here, he sure knows how to fuck it over into the exact opposite effect. Drive out the poor, fuck the people who have money over, those people then leave this city, then the poor get to come back with a vengeance and turn this City into a complete wreck. Then you can try taxing people with no money and see how far that gets you, dumbfuck! 8/14/2008 05:56:00 PM" From the ever enlightening: http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/
It saddens me to see my home town in such a mess but its of their own doing. I'm one of the many out there who chose to live outside the city rather than pay that transfer tax along with all the other tolls that line the pockets of crooked aldermen, surly city employees (Pool Boy, i.e.), and Dorothy Tillman's crooked "cultural center". Lower taxes, cut the amount of aldermen in half, extend the school day past 2:40 P.M. and I'll come back to help ease this budget shortfall. I won't be holding my breath.
I can't no one has said it yet. How about we spackle that budget hole with some of that TIF money. Nothing is off the table right?
$300,330,000.00 in the hole. Thats three hundred thirty three million dollars short. Thats money that can be used for Mayor Ding Dongs Short Fall! Those homes in Bensenville will never be used! Wake up Chicago! Daley is stealing your hard earned tax money. What good are the Olympics and Airports when working families can't afford a roof over there heads or food!
One way to do it would be to stop writing parking tickets and just immediately boot every car that is perceived to violate a parking rule. Oh, and we need to increase the number of places you can go afoul of a parking rule.
We will lay a few people off and then get them jobs with other agencies (CTA, CPS, CPD, etc.)
Giving the biggest crook in Chicago's History .... A Pass Again! Mayor Daley and his Family!!!! Almost a $ 1,000,000,000 ( $ 1 billion dollars ) in Over spending!!!!! HISTORY WILL NOT BE GOOD TO THE DALEY"S. BECAUSE,WHEN THEY LEAVE OFFICE, THE NEW MAYOR WILL BE IN THE RED BY BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
TOAL ASSHOLE NAMED TONY "I HELPED EXPUNGE MARKO'S CRIMINAL RECORDS, BECAUSE I'M FILTHY $$$$$$$$$" PERAICA. UNDERCOVER RE-CONSTRUCTIONIST OF THE USSR, LIKE HIS ALLY PUTIN. HE STINKS TO THE WHOLE UNIVERSE.
I chuckled when I saw that the city lost over 4 million in cigarette tax revenues. As a smoker, I have not bought one cig in the city or county for months. Rather than getting some revenue from smokers, the city and county got greedy and taxed smokers to the point where people like myself looked for alternatives. As a result, they get nothing! Serves the greedy creeps right!
Yahh, U mus pay da wadah bulls, Oh ellse wil tuhn offe da wadah. Wiche es goooood fo EVYBUDY!!!!!!.
You'd hypocrites would justify a MASSIVE sin tax, Especially with alcohol & liquor & THEN SOME. WTF?????????. Now Daley may be a tax hog. But St. Jesse Jackson Jr????????. HA!!!!!!.
Can anyone identify the foreign language from whence the following grammatical butchery of the English language might flow? ".....TO THE FIRST DEGREE!!!!!!!!." "...TO THE WHOLE UNIVERSE." "...& THEN SOME."
Will Daley be wise enough to stop chasing the olympics and turn his attention to establishing a fiscally-responsible and sustainable city government... when pigs fly. No, the olympics will probably be promoted as a "gotta invest to earn" public project that will soak taxpayers even further. Skyway funds will be depleted at a rate that's probably faster than the time it took to negotiate the lease with that foreign company that now runs it. Yes, instead of responsible government Daley will just raid funds to feed the beast and keep the derelict city running. What's up next as America goes broke because our politicians are crooks? Probably privatization of all of the cities most valuable assets, and probably to foreign bidders with deep pockets. Maybe the CTA will go to the Russians? Maybe Navy Pier will go to Dubai... they like ports? Maybe McCormick Place will go to the Saudis? Maybe O'Hare Airport will go to the Chinese? Let's just sell off the whole friggin' city to foreigners, and raid the funds to pay for Chicago's bloated government, or the olympics. Yeah, let's have the Olympics demonstrate our international worldliness that the late great City of Chicago is broke and up for sale. It'll kind of be like how fairs like "Around the Coyote" introduced suburbanites and yuppies to Wicker Park? Let's bend Chicago over so it can be gentrified by the world. It would probably not be so nice to be "owned" where city government is just a pawn of private and foreign interests, much more so than it is today. It sounds like it's time to dump Daley, or get out while one can.
I'm not the source with Tribunes John Kass on the Senator. I have given Kass info on Mayor daley's son, Patrick Daley and MSS. Who it seems are above the law . They came into the Water Department and the taxpayers were double billed. but the US Attorney is scared to go after the Daley's per orders of Prez Bush....The Feds in Chicago are phonies. They just pick on Africans, Hispanics and Italians. Senator Deleo did nothing compared to Mayor Daley's son and nephew. Senator Deleo just happens to be Italian....US Attorney Fitzgerald has turned into a street boss for Mayor Daley!!!! This City is in the worst financial shape in history and we can blame the Daley's!!! $422 million dollars short in the City Budget and $322 million short for O'hare expansion. Than he still has $500 million of taxpayers money for the Olympics . People still call me nuts? This City is fuckin Bizzaro World!!!
Frank Coconate you should be ashame of yourself,making a living attacking the city you were born and worked in. Frank you are becoming a ...POVERTY PIMP.
This weekend's Edison Park Fest????????, Was he TOO chickenshit to come, Because many tend to loathe him??????????.
Wot dide yu sey?, I'm angwy. Ei'll gett da buwedowzews afte yu, And fowce you to degg up Gwant Pak fo my Chiidwn's Moozeum.
I just returned from the Edison Park Fest. I also attended Saturday. But when you've seen one drunk Irishman , you've seen them all. As usual Mike McAulliffe , Peter Silvestri and Senator DeLeo said hello. Mary o'Connor was running around trying to keep the beers flowing to all the under age kids!!! The Police on Duty( Security Also) did a great job! The people that do not like me, stay hidden as usual. Or there aren't any. Like the peole that post on this Board. It's the same idiot's: Patrick McDonough and Daryl Mitchell. They would never confront me heads up! Also , The City is Fucked up under the Daley's. But I do love the real Chicago, minus the Daley Criminals!!! Daley Budget still short $430 million dollars and counting. Get ready you ball less Unions , he will eleminate you from all City Jobs soon!!!! How about all those Alderman Jerry Morrison Elected with Tom-Tom Balanoff. SEIU -CFL's Dennis Gannon-Building and Trades -put Daley back in office!
If I was a plumber I would stay drunk all day too. Hey Coconut do you let Victor Reyes get away calling you a Poverty Pimp.
Remember him, the flack for the union that tries to explain how the unions threw away millions of their minions hard earned dues to elect aldermen that we so easily flipped ? Now your money is really gonna be well spent, because many of your members are going to be laid off. Remind me again about the long term strategy of spending millions on aldermanic races ? That will be of little comfort to your members as I prepare layoff lists with them on it. Should have taken the furlough days when we first offerred them. Now your membership is going to pay the price. But your pimp Denis Gannon will still keep drawing a big salary.
We should have listen to Coconate in 2005. He told us at the Holloween rally what would happen. Alderman-Unions-The Mayor!
What might happen if: 1. An assessment is made of all debt owed by American citizens into two categories: debt held by 'friendly' foreign entities and debt held by 'unfriendly' foreign entities. 2. Debt held by friendly foreign entities will be honored, though subject to negotiated restructuring. 3. Debt held by unfriendly foreign entities will be declared null and void, ie., not going to be paid, ever, with the option offered to said unfriendly foreign entities to settle for pennies on the dollar. 4. Depending upon the nature of what real assets secure said debt, might this be the solution to the possibility of the catastrophic economic effects looming on our horizon? 5. The power inherent in being indebted is the leverage possessed by the debtor to refuse to pay. Debt secured by assets less valuable than the amount owed puts the debt holder in a position of weakness, not strength. 6. Should the debtor refuse to relinquish the assets that secure the debt owed, whatever their present value, or lack thereof, and, should there be no force capable, or willing, to compel said relinquishment, what can the holder of said debt do, other than settle for less or get nothing? 7. And if the 'unfriendly' foreign debt holders depend upon the American debtors continuing to pay the interest on said debt, what might happen if said debtors suspended said payments, indefinitely? 8. What are the means, methods and causes of the value of our unit of economic means of exchange, ie., the dollar, being defined by 'unfriendly' foreign entities? 9. What strategies have 'unfriendly' foreign entities been using to undermine the strength and value of our economic unit of exchange? 10. Why would the vast majority of American citizens accept the financial burdens that said undermining foreign strategies have imposed upon them? 11. Why have Americans accepted being economic pawns in the world markets? Have Americans become so ignorant of the realities of life, that they cannot recognize when, and by whom, they are being led to slaughter?
Anyone ready to consider: REGISTER TO VOTE VOTE IN EVERY ELECTION HAVE NO DOUBT, VOTE INCUMBENTS OUT
I'm just a fired City Worker, but, since the the value of our Homes dropped in value and the City appraised are homes at a higher value. Do we get a rebate on our property tax's ? Do our property tax's get lowered? Homes once valued at $550,000.00 are now valued between $385 to $425 thousand.Are Appraiser's and Loan Co.'s responsible? Alderman in the City Council need to bring attention to these questions.
Its called supply and demand. The demand for 550,000 homes are not great. People are not buying. There is nothling for some dumb Alderman to do. THE Appriasal only reports market conditions. This is why people are walking away from there homes. They owe more on the loan,than the home is worth.
Mayor Jesse Jackass Juniah. Taxes STILL going SKY FUCKING HIGH, POTENTIALLY HIGHER. A NEW CITY INCOME TAX ADDED under the cowardly lion. Crime surpassing the 1974 rate. Businesses LEAVING in droves. The White flight continuing & Going at the rate of Detroit in the 1970's & 80's. Even Hispanics, Asians AND law-abiding & middle class African-Americans leaving in droves. Whilst COWARDLY Republican ASSHOLES like Tony Peraica, Peter Roskam, John Geils, Jabba The Hutt, Pate Philip, John Cox, Carl Segvich (relocating his political offices to Vernon Hills), et al. would LAUGH, GLOAT & CELEBRATE the city's demise......Fucking sick cowardly freaks.
Are you promoting Daley by telling us it would be worse if some else was the Mayor. You must be smoking some good shit, or are one big retard . Chicago is almost like Detroit, but Daley and Ed Burke are cooking the books. When a city must sell or lease Airports,Parking meters,and toll roads to balance their budget,they are broke. Even before the the Economy went down,Daley sold the skyway,to balance his 2005 budget. Peraica is cool, Jesse is cool,John Gils is the man compared to a rot gut semi retard like your Mayor Daley. Take that and smoke it in your crack pipe.
"Do our property tax's get lowered?" Good question. For the purpose of Real Property Assessment, the obvious answer is YES. The county assessor should, in reassessing the values of real property, LOWER the values of real properties whose market value has decreased. That is the purpose of reassessment, to honestly and accurately reflect the actual market value of real property. This would then result in many real properties being assessed at, surprise, surprise, a lower value. Which, of course, would then require that, should the total tax revenue requirement from the county remain the same, (or increase), an INCREASE in the tax multiplier, to result in the same, (or greater), amount of total property tax being billed to the real property owners of this county, ie., for the first time in a long time, the many assholes who've consistently claimed that they've NOT raised property taxes, DESPITE the fact that everyone who owns real property and pays taxes on same have seen their property taxes INCREASE dramatically every 3 years, will have to actually RAISE the PROPERTY TAX MULTIPLIER and admit that they are doing so. So, Frank, what this means, as I am sure you understand, is that Daley, Stroger, et al., will be forced to INCREASE the tax multiplier, to achieve the same, or greater, tax revenues from the now LESS valuable properties being taxed. If, as it appears, many real property values have DECREASED dramatically, the lower values SHOULD be appearing on the reassessment statements property owners receive from the county. For property tax revenues to NOT DECREASE, the multiplier factors MUST INCREASE. And, as I am also sure you understand, the ONLY way that property taxes will EVER decrease is for the thieves and liars currently ruining our city, county and state to be VOTED OUT. REGISTER TO VOTE VOTE IN EVERY ELECTION HAVE NO DOUBT, VOTE INCUMBENTS OUT (To answer the question posed by 'orion', ie., "Are you ready to consider getting another mantra ?", uh, no, no I'm not.) Also, I would like to thank the always prolific miss '..to the first degree', for finally presenting us all with a wonderfully succinct description of our current crop of elected city, county and state government officials and their cronies, ie., "Fucking sick cowardly freaks.". Thanks, miss '...to the first degree', your honesty is quite refreshing.
