Much hay was made in the news yesterday on Mayor Daley's 2011 municipal budget, including headlines heralding his ability to "balance" said budget without "raising taxes." Unfortunately for Chicagoans, neither is true. more ›

On tour in Illinois yesterday with New Jersey's Republican Governor, Chris Christie, GOP Gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady got caught up in some difficult questions about how he'll handle the state's ballooning budget deficit. Brady called Christie "an inspiration" for cutting New Jersey's budget, but refused to discuss specifics of either the cuts he would propose or the borrowing he would consider, and cut short his news conference when the local media pressed him for details on how to handle the state's $13 billion budget hole. more ›

With the city trying to climb its way out of a $650 million budget hole next year, one union is suggesting a new fee on recycling to help knock out at least a little chunk of that debt. Laborers Union Local 1001 is proposing that all 600,000 households with garbage pick-up pay a $10 monthly recycling fee. Doing the math results in an influx of $72 million for the city and the labor is pitching the idea to aldermen. The union's business manager Lou Phillips told the Sun-Times: more ›

Below is more from my interview last week with 32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack in which we touch on schools, unions, and more on the budget. more ›

A few weeks ago, when I first scheduled an interview with Ald. Waguespack, the notion was to get a bit of background about one of the leading candidates who was likely to step up and challenge Mayor Daley in next year's Mayoral Elections. But, just a few days before we were due to sit down, Daley turned the local political world on its ear with the announcement of his retirement. Suddenly, there's an abundance of candidates, some serious, others less so. With somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 people considering running, the field is more crowded and this, certainly, will have an effect on Ald. Waguespack's decision to run. Someone who's been outspoken against Daley in his term as alderman, Waugespack talked with me about his initial victory over the Machine in 2007 to win his ward, what he's done for the ward, and some of the challenges facing the City of Chicago as it heads into new territory under new leadership next spring. And, yes, about his mayoral aspirations. more ›

With City Hall all a-whirl with this week's news, there's still actual business to take care of, one of those items of business being the City's 2011 budget and the growing deficit. Starting tonight and continuing through next week, there will be three separate public hearings at which The Office of Budget and Management and members of the City Council's Budget Committee will hear present Mayor Daley's preliminary budget for next year - which includes that $650 million gap - that the next mayor will get to inherit. And you will have a chance to present feedback; that is, after all, the point of these hearings is to get your feelings on them so let them hear you, loud and clear. The meetings are: more ›

• DuPage County prosecutors announced today that Jacob Nodarse and Johnny Borizov will not face the death penalty if convicted for the Kramer family triple murder in Darien earlier this year.
• Police continue to investigate a murder-suicide that occurred yesterday evening at a Chicago Ridge mall.
• A federal lawsuit alleges that Hyatt Hotel heir Matthew Pritzker was involved with a hit-and-run accident that injured a bicyclist and that police helped to cover up the accident.

With the city's budget deficit growing and crime a hot topic, we were wondering if we'd get any answers from Mayor Daley yesterday in his annual State of the City speech. We got one, alright, even if it was indirect and we need look no further than this morning's headlines to find it: more ›

Chicago Public Schools began their first round of layoffs this week, axing 400 teachers and 200 support staff. The layoffs are part of an attempt to close a $370 million budget gap. The Sun-Times reports this is the first of at least two rounds of layoffs, with the total number of people finding themselves out of job projected to be as high as 2,000. Budget talks are scheduled to begin Friday with CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union. CPS Chief Ron Huberman has said the layoffs might have been avoided if the CTU agreed to concessions, but CTU President Karen Lewis disagreed. Lewis pointed out that the 26,000 member union already took a hit via pension concessions and said that lawmakers in Springfield need to do a better job of paying their bills. more ›

Remember the infamous Parking Meter deal? The one that then Inspector General David Hoffman said was only worth about half of what the city could have gotten in the deal? Well, it's almost gone and the city is staring at an ever-growing budget hole that seems to keep growing. According to a report in the Sun-Times this morning, the budget gap approaches $700 million when CPD and CFD contracts are added in. And as for the $1.15 billion parking meter deal? The Sun-Times reports there's only $180 million left after less than two years have passed on the 75-year lease. And then there are the Skyway reserves, a $1.83 billion deal of which there is only $550 million remaining after less than five years of that 99-year deal. Our pals at The Expired Meter have more perspective on exactly what has gone wrong with the parking meter money. So where will the money come from now that the City has instituted furlough days and Mayor Daley has said he won't raise property taxes? For starters: more ›

This week, we're counting down the top 9 stories of 2009 according to the Chicagoist staff. more ›

Midnight has struck for a pair of unions that have been holding out on making a deal with the City on concessions to save job cuts. Now what? Well, we're not really sure. Mayor Daley will hold a press conference this morning at 10:30 a.m. to discuss what's next, though yesterday he did threaten that 431 jobs from the two unions - 141 from Local 726 of the Teamsters union and 290 from Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees - would be cut if the concessions weren't made. But the unions are prepared for the cuts, as Tom Clair, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 726, told the Trib, "I know it's going to happen. I was told by a city official last night that layoff notices would be handed out this morning when workers show up to their shifts. I don't know who, and haven't been notified yet, but I expect the layoffs to be this morning." more ›

Crain's has an interesting read on the city's failure to secure corporate sponsorships in an effort to raise money. Nevermind that Mayor Daley has no qualms about leasing assets left and right (See: Midway and Parking Meters), he just can't get Coca-Cola to sign off on any city-wide deals. Corporate sponsorship has also been floated in regards to helping the CTA raise some funds, but not much happened from that proposed deal either. In the meantime, it seems the Mayor has no problem plastering his name everywhere. more ›