After much hand-wringing, doomsdaying and speculation, Mayor Daley and his administration finally laid out how serious the city's budget deficit is. The city's 2009 budget has a $420 million gap and the mayor is saying nothing, except an increase in real estate taxes, is out of the question. That includes as many as 1,800 layoffs. "We’re not gonna speculate on the number of layoffs or if they are even necessary. Today, we’re simply framing the......

Just a week after seeming amenable to concessions to help the city close a projected $400 million budget hole, Fraternal Order of Police President Mark Donahue said that his members aren't really feeling Daley's calls for cuts, which include city workers forgoing promised pay raises and accepting extra unpaid leave days. "We base what we're gonna do in the future on what we've seen happen in the past. And what we've seen in the past......

The Chicago City Council agreed on Tuesday to mandatory unpaid furloughs of two-days for non-union city employees and three day furloughs for those who are unrepresented or are earning more than $75,000. The city expects to save an estimated $3.3 million, as they scramble to close an expected $400 million deficit in the city's budget 2009 fiscal year budget. But the pain won't stop there. The mayor refused to give specifics on layoffs or furloughs......