So much for a rubber stamp.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced in September he would make some changes to the city's TIF district funds. After years of questions about how the shadow budgets were used, the mayor would transition to more transparency by putting them online, submitting a TIF budget to City Council and more.
Some aldermen have other ideas for what they called a giant slush fund (a point they emphasized by bringing an oversized slushy to a Tuesday event.)
Led by alderman Scott Waguespeck, a number of city legislators and the Chicago Teachers Union called Tuesday for the return of unaccounted TIF money to where it came from.
The Responsible Budget Ordinance could return hundreds of millions of unallocated TIF dollars back to the original taxing bodies, significantly ameliorating their budget deficits without laying-off workers, taxing working families, or privatizing any valuable city asset.
Chicago’s neighborhoods currently suffer from the economic recession and every tax
dollar allocated to neighborhoods this year is a dollar that can preserve basic city services forseniors, children, and parents. It would be irresponsible to let these funds sit idle in TIF
accounts while we lay off teachers and other workers who have families that depend on them,and communities that benefit from their service.
Waguespeck, Alderman John Arena, Alderman Will Burns, Alderman Bob Fioretti, Alderman Toni Foulkes, Alderman Joe Moore and Alderman Proco Joe Moreno will introduce the Responsible Budget Ordinance Wednesday at City Council.
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