Results tagged “budget”

Mayor Daley's budget for 2010 has been presented and, as expected, there were no new taxes but lots of cuts. There will also be much taken from the parking meter lease fund. In fact, by this time next year, don't expect much to be left from the $1.15 billion/75-year deal, the deal we may have gotten hosed on. Having already spent $400 million of that money this year, according to the Tribune, Daley is looking to spend an additional $600 million of that money in 2010. We're no math geniuses and even we know that doesn't leave a whole heck of a lot left in the pot for the remaining 70+ years of the lease, something that concerned Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) earlier this week. All told, Daley claims that there will still be around $700 million left in reserve funds - the combination of the Skyway and parking meter leases - next year. A cut in the city's tourism budget also raised eyebrows. And besides the cuts to entertainment and furlough days for non-union employees and elimination of vacant jobs, there are smaller cuts, too, such as the scaling back of the city's recycling program.

Around 137,000 college students in Illinois got a hand from state lawmakers who yesterday voted to reinstate the Monetary Award Program which will give $205 million to college students around the state. One issue: no one's sure where the money will come from. State lawmakers say it's up to Gov. Quinn to find room in the budget for the cash, who previously suggested raising cigarette taxes to fund the program. [WBEZ]

Governor Quinn and Henry Bayer, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees met this week over ways that the state and the largest union representing state employees could work out ways to save Illinois money. But neither party had much to say about the conversation. Quinn termed the meeting "constructive", and said that his office will meet with members of the union's bargaining committee to discuss avoiding potential layoffs or furlough days.

With the state feeling the financial crunch and reeling from that recent budget dust-up, we knew lots of folks we're going to suffer repercussions. One of the latest groups to feel the sting is a group of the state's college students who were denied financial aid. Why? Because they applied after the state's May 15 deadline, a deadline which, in the past, had been set much later. Then there's this, according to the Sun-Times:

Following up on our earlier post about the budget crisis facing the state, Gov. Pat Quinn today announced he was vetoing part of the budget that had be presented him by the state assembly. The part Quinn vetoed dealt with social services, calling the fight to hold out for more funding via his budget and tax increases was a "fight worth fighting for." Per the Tribune:

That's right, Illinois, it's an exciting day as the new Fiscal Year has begun and- what? There's no budget but rather a huge budget hole? Between $7 billion and $9 billion? Shit. Didn't we just boot a corrupt as all Hell governor so that the state government could right this sinking ship? Well...crap.

At the end of this year, Chicago could be short 800 cops compared to last year the police union told the Sun-Times. The shortage is attributed to vacancies, attrition rates, and Mayor Daley’s 2009 budget which has significantly slowed down hiring. Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis told the Sun-Times last week that the CPD hopes to use federal grant money to hire 150 new officers this year. In the short term Weis will manage the officer shortage by shifting officers from desk jobs, or pay officers overtime with federal grants to cover the streets this summer.

As expected, the Regional Transportation Authority board agreed this week to slash public funding for Chicago-area transit services by $67 million over the next six months. The nine board members in attendance voted unanimously for the cuts, in the hopes that they will bring the transit agencies' growing budget deficits in line with lower tax revenues.

The Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program will have to cut more than half of its services if an income tax increase does not occur, reports Chi-Town Daily News. The state and federally funded program gives free breast screenings and mammograms for women over 40, cervical exams for women over 35 and cancer treatment to eligible women. With expected budget cuts, the program stands to lose $9 million. More than 36,000 uninsured women in Illinois, a third of which are from Chicago, benefit from the program; more than 21,000 would no longer receive services.

As time runs out for a new state budget, Governor Quinn is mulling over the possibility of calling a special session to hash it out. Quinn expressed a desire to have a new budget done in the next 10 days. He told WBEZ, "I plan to get together next week with the legislators, we'll talk tomorrow about how the mechanism is, but I think they understand they may have gone home for the summer-- summer vacation -- but their work isn't done." Yesterday, Quinn said up to 10,000 state workers could lose their jobs if the budget wasn't fixed from its current state.

State legislators approved a huge $29 billion public works program to create jobs and repair the state’s infrastructure, however roughly $500 million can be spent in legislator’s home districts on pet projects such as $50k for the Candlewick Lake Association, a gated lakefront community near Rockford with a 220-acre lake and a 9-hole golf course. The community did not ask for the money but according to Candlewick’s general manager, “We certainly will find good use for it,” he told WBBM. Other projects slated for grants include:

The Illinois state house was working late in the night last night, attempting to hammer out a new budget before the midnight deadline. In the end, the house defeated Gov. Quinn's proposed income tax hike and passed a temporary budget that, while not containing higher taxes, still has giant holes, meaning they'll be back to hash out another budget soon. To pass the income tax hike, Quinn needed 60 votes for; the measure was defeated with 42 votes for to 74 against (the Trib has how they voted - PDF).

In an effort to tackle the $11.6 billion budget deficit, Gov. Quinn proposed a pension reform plan that, according to Fox Chicago, would cut in half the amount of money put into retirement systems for state employees over the next five years.

• There was a delay on the Blue Line this afternoon when a woman fell on the tracks. Service and power were restored at around 2:30 p.m
• The CTA Tattler takes a look at how the CTA avoided additional fare hikes...for now.
• The Supreme Court has agreed to consider reviewing the case of former Sun-Times owner Conrad Black.

If President Obama gets his way, the Great Lakes could be in for a nice clean-up come next year. The President's 2010 budget, released in February asked for an additional $475 million in funds to clean the Lakes; if the funding were approved, it would put the yearly cost of funding for the Great Lakes at over $1 billion per year. Per the Associated Press (via WBBM):

Bistro 110 (110 E. Pearson, 312-266-3110) is hosting a Two Brothers beer tasting from 6-8;30 p.m. this evening. They'll be pouring Domaine Dupage, Dog Days Dortmunder Lager, Ebel's Weiss and Cane & Ebel. Light noshes including quiche lorraine, steamed mussels, cheese and charcuterie stations, frites, smoked pork loin and sauerkraut, and Bistro 110 house pizzas. Both Jim and Jason Ebel from Two Brothers will be on hand to lead the tasting. Cost is $25.

• Stop us if you've heard this one before: so the CTA is threatening fare hikes and service cuts...
• The City Council today voted to ban baby bottles and sip cups using the chemical BPA.
• Gov. Quinn is standing by his budget and insisting there's no more room for cuts.

Eleven state historic sites previously closed by former governor Rod Blagojevich - thanks to the budget - are now reopening. There was a public outcry when Blago shut the sites down on December 1, according to David Blanchette, spokesman for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Per the Trib:

Expressing displeasure with the amount of money Chicago (and other cities) would get, Mayor Daley attacked Governor Quinn's proposed budget two weeks after the Governor first made his budget public. Said the Mayor, "We get no benefit. Then why should anybody be for it?" But Daley's complaints didn't stop there: he chided Quinn for a budget that lacked sufficient funding for things like transportation and education, claiming the Chicago Public School system would only get $54 million as opposed to the $200 million it needs. He also complained about the need to fund local governments as revenues drastically decrease:

While Governor Pat Quinn won't unveil his complete budget until tomorrow, bits and pieces are starting to leak out as the Sun-Times got a hold of a "blueprint" of his plan. We already know about the controversial income tax hike he's planning, but two more tax hikes he's looking at are also raising eyebrows. The first is price of the registration fee for state license plate stickers, which currently cost $78. Quinn wants to raise the price on those by $20. Quinn is also exploring raising cigarette taxes from an existing $0.98 per pack to almost $2.00 a pack within two years.

Anxious to close the $155 million budget gap they're facing, the CTA proposed several cost-cutting measures at their board meeting yesterday, including the possibility of a new fare hike.

The 11-point strategy focused mostly on internal savings such as cutting management and staff positions that would not affect bus or rail service or raise fares. The measures ranged from reducing management and office staff positions and overtime pay, to attempting to renegotiate contracts and sell off the CTA's vast real estate holdings.

Continue reading "CTA Hints at Another Fare Hike"

While he won't reveal any details until a budget address on March 18, it seems Governor Quinn is looking to spend a lot of money in the coming year: $25 billion, to be precise. Quinn wants to spend the money, according to the Trib, on "a statewide construction program to improve schools, roads and bridges and create jobs." Said Quinn, “We hope to have a $25 billion… Illinois economic recovery investment program that invests in rail as well as highway and bridges and water and everything else. I think it’s imperative… but we have to get it passed. I’d like to see it passed by April 3, and we’re going to work very hard in that direction.”

By a vote of 14-3 the Cook County Board of Commissioners approved a compromise budget of $2.9 billion that includes no new taxes and no borrowing for operations. The budget tha commissioners approved also denies about $37 million in spending that Stroger requested, and cuts health care spending by about two percent. Commissioners also agreed to spend an additional $294 million by the end of 2010 to fund construction projects and technology upgrades. That spending will require additional borrowing. Left unresolved is $104 million in employee pension costs. Those costs are a left over lump sum payment from a 2007 special employee buyout. Because the budget compromise rejects Stroger's plan to borrow $260 million to finance insurance and court costs, as well as the pension payments, future interest payments of $214 million were averted.

After an eight-hour marathon session, the Cook County Board of Commissioners reached a tentative budget deal. County commissioners closed a multi-million dollar budget hole in board president Todd Storger's proposal, banking on federal revenue that hasn't come through yet and doesn't deal with the county's pension obligations or a means to finance millions of dollars in construction projects. Nevertheless, last night's compromise sets the stage for approval. The budget plan was reached by making a series of cuts in Stroger's initial proposal and rejecting his plan to issue a bond worth nearly $400 million.

After the Sun-Times exposed some of the highest-paid school superintendent salaries, lawmakers are saying they want school systems to fully disclose the salaries and “hidden benefits” extended to school officials. The Sun-Times called out former Supt. Neil Codell was bringing home $411,500 for the last school year; he oversaw two schools in Niles Township High School District 219. It’s interesting to know that G-Rod’s base pay was $177,412.

In spite of the city's effort to tax the ever-loving shit out of anything and everything, a bad fourth quarter of 2008 means the city's revenues were off by over $30 million for the year. According to Chief Financial Officer Paul Volpe, Daley's new chief-of-staff, "We're some $31 million below what we actually thought." One precipitous drop came from real-estate transfer tax collections; instead of the $30 million the city expected to collect in the last quarter of 2008, it received only $20.5 million. And despite the seeming lack of side-street plowing, Volpe says the large amount of snow so far this winter required the city to spend $4.3 million more on plowing than had been planned.

Mayor Daley’s budget director bowed out yesterday and, boy, did he pick a great time to resign. Bennett Johnson III told the Sun-Times that his decision is nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to the time line of budget directors. “Look at the history of budget directors. It’s two budget seasons and out. That’s just the way it goes. It's a tough and demanding job. I've done a lot to try and help the city, but it’s time to move on. It is truly and absolutely for my own personal reasons,” Johnson said.

• Castle Rock State Park, Oregon
• Lowden State Park, Oregon
• Illini State Park, Marseilles
• Hidden Springs State Forrest, Strasburg
• Moraine View State Park, Leroy
• Weldon Springs State Park, Clinton
• Wolf Creek State Park, Windsor
• Dana-Thomas House, Springfield
• Lincoln log cabin near Charleston
• Fort de Chartres, Randolph County
• Vandalia statehouse (Saturday is last day; not open Sundays)
• State center at Bishop Hill, Henry County
• Carl Sandburg birthplace, Galesburg
• Cahokia courthouse
• Hauberg Indian Museum, Rock Island County, (part of the Black Hawk State Historic Site) but the adjacent natural area will stay open.
• Jubilee College, near Peoria
• Apple River Fort, Elizabeth
• Fort Kaskaskia, Randolph County
• Pierre Menard home, Randolph County
  
  Continue reading "State Shuts Down Parks and Historic Sites Tomorrow"

 

The Cook County budget showdown is gearing up as county President Todd Stroger is expected to unveil his 2009 budget proposal today. Stroger has already put pressure on Cook County commissioners to approve a plan to borrow $720 million. The Stroger administration argues that the money is needed in order to keep the county afloat. Donna Dunnings, the county’s chief financial officer and Stroger’s cousin, told the Trib yesterday that massive layoffs are in store if the plan is rejected.

We outlined for you yesterday the specifics of the actual fare increases, but there are a few other tidbits we missed. First, as part of the new budget the CTA passed, 632 workers will be laid off, with as many as 200 losing their jobs before the new budget (and fare hikes) go into effect on January 1. As for the reason that long-term passes increased by only 15 percent instead of 20: "Transit board Chairman Carole Brown said that change was made possible by halting employee enrollment in a "supplemental" pension program for senior staff, a move that was expected to save $3.6 million."