RAHM’S BUDGET BOW
Mayor applauds aldermen who ‘took the tough votes’ in his final budget address
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday unveiled a $10.66 billion 2019 budget that holds the line on taxes, fines and fees and still invests heavily in police reform, crime fighting, housekeeping services and mentoring and summer jobs for at-risk youth.
In his final budget address to the City Council, Emanuel asked his allies to take a bow for beginning to solve the city’s $28 billion pension crisis and putting Chicago in a position to spend on what’s important.
Never mind that a $1 billion spike in pension payments will confront the next mayor and City Council.
“Getting the city back on track has not been a walk in the park. And by no means is our work finished. But that does not mean we should undersell the journey we took and the work we did in this chamber,” the mayor said.
“We took the tough votes. You demonstrated political courage. ... They do not build statues for people who restore fiscal stability. But without sound, strong, stable finances, nothing else is possible.”
In 2011, Emanuel inherited a pension crisis and a $635 million structural deficit. His first city budget closed six mental health clinics and three police stations, eliminated 1,400 police vacancies, reduced library hours and doubled water and sewer rates.
“Some predicted Chicago would be the next Detroit,” he recalled Wednesday.
What a difference seven years makes.
Thanks to the $2 billion mountain of taxes already raised and cuts already made, his final budget mostly holds the line on taxes, fines and fees.
The exceptions: the nickel-a-ride increase in ride-sharing fees for the CTA, and the third installment of a 29.5 percent surcharge on water and sewer bills.
There may also be some increases in user fees, some of which have not been raised since the 1990s. But Budget Director Samantha Fields said the total raised won’t exceed $5 million.
The $10.66 billion budget includes a $175 million tax increment financing surplus, generating $42 million for the city and $96.9 million for Chicago Public Schools.
Thanks to a $450 million windfall from the state, CPS also will be asked to reimburse the city for $16.5 million — half the cost of the 211 Chicago police officers assigned to public schools.
Emanuel’s plan to revive the disbanded Department of Housing will cost $4.3 million, but only $1.4 million in new money. Many of the department’s 85 employees will transfer from the Department of Planning and Development.
The budget also has $25.7 million to help implement a consent decree outlining the terms of federal court oversight over CPD.
There are still question marks that go beyond the looming spike in pension payments.
For instance, the city has yet to hammer out contracts with police officers and firefighters — or even start negotiating in earnest — though both contracts expired on June 30, 2017.