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......

On Thursday, members of the Illinois House failed to pay for the cuts in social services the governor made earlier this week. The governor called legislators into a special session this week, asking the House to close a $2 billion budget hole. He did it himself earlier this week by slashing $1.4 billion in programs and services out of the budget. "I'm not going to get in the position of defending the governor, but I......

Those who know the exact price of their morning coffee received a gentle reminder this morning: the Cook County sales tax hike to 10.25% is effective today. Statewide, other new laws taking effect July 1: Illinois employers must pay minimum-wage employees $7.50 an hour. Yearly increases of 25 cents will follow until the year 2010, when the minimum wage for the state will have reached $8.25. The new Illinois Commercial Safety Towing Law requires registered......

Chicago's sales tax is on its way up, up, up. Starting tomorrow, our sales taxes will be the highest in the nation at 10.25 percent, thanks to a 1 percent uptick courtesy of Cook County. [WBBM]......

How goes the bottled water tax? Not so great, actually. The city was counting on bringing in $10.5 million in nickels, but sales have been much slower than expected; at the current pace, only $4.8 million will be collected this year. In other news, the Chicago Botanic Garden no longer sells bottled water. According to the Garden's director of sustainable operations, "Manufacturing, shipping, recycling and disposing of bottled water uses an enormous amount of energy......

Todd Stroger cast a rare tie-breaking vote Tuesday, approving a measure that will loan Cook County $150 million until the sales tax hike takes effect. “I think this is a slap in the face of the people who are going to be paying the sales taxes starting July 1,” said Commissioner Larry Suffredin, who voted for the borrowing resolution and the tax hike back in February. Suffredin also said he's concerned because commissioners were not......

Because those Ticketmaster fees just aren't enough of a pain in the ass, the City of Chicago is suing websites eBay and StubHub, claiming that as "reseller agents," the sites are required to an amusement tax on sports and cultural events tickets sold on the sites under a Chicago ordinance. If the city succeeds, future purchases on these sites could see an additional tax of up to 8% tacked on to the price. The two......

"Goats don't move quietly ... Goats are really, really noisy all of the time. They are very vociferous about everything that you do or want to do or think about doing with them." Dr. Colleen O'Keefe, IDOA division manager for food safety and animal protection, on the mysterious pile of goat carcasses in Will County. [S-T] "It's hard to believe...the Department of Defense didn't have a backup plan. It seems they dropped the ball a......

Developers for the Chicago Spire failed to pay over $400,000 in property taxes. A spokeswoman blamed a mailing problem, saying the tax bills had gone to the wrong address...but is it a symptom of a bigger problem? From Crain's: [T]he failure to manage a routine task like property taxes raises questions about [developer Garrett Kelleher]’s ability to complete a multi-billion dollar project that demands the highest level of concentration. ... The tax gaffe is one......

Legislation allowing voters to decide if the state should double the income tax on people earning more than $250,000 a year failed 52 - 60 in the House last Thursday. 71 votes were needed. But the next day State Rep. Gary Hannig (D Litchfield) had a change of heart. “I would say that the concept was a good one, to try to raise some money by going to a more progressive tax system and asking......

The State Senate unanimously approved a bill yesterday that would eliminate sales taxes on school supplies, computers and clothing and shoes under $200 the first week in August. According to the bill's sponsor Sen. James Clayborne (D-Belleville), it's "designed to ease the burden of those who struggle to purchase clothes for their children and struggle [to buy] school supplies." Looking through the text of the bill, though, it seems like it would "ease the burden"......

With Illinois suffering from national economic woes, statewide economic stimulus plans are floating around in both houses of the General Assembly. In the House, some Democrats are pushing a legislative effort to double the income tax to six percent on residents earing more than $250,000 a year. The increase is expected to generate around $3 billion annually, and would fund schools and income-tax relief for lower- and middle-income families. Separately, senate Democrats, along with some......

Fresh off a mountain of controversy about her huge raise, Cook County's Chief Financial Officer (and Todd Stroger's cousin) Donna Dunnings is saying that the county won't have enough funds to operate. In spite of the recent sales tax increase that will generate more than $400 million for the county, "that structural deficit is living and breathing, and the sales tax is by no means the answer to that.... So, we have to look at......

Back in our New Orleans days, we used to see billboards that read "40K A State Away!", an attempt by the state of Texas to entice what few competent teachers southeast Louisiana had left. Our first reaction was annoyance. Who does Texas think they are, trying to pilfer our educators? Isn't everything already bigger and better there? Then, after a daiquiri from the drive-thru, we just shrugged. That's capitalism, baby. Now a coalition of 18......

Looks like Chicagoans weren't as thirsty for bottled water as the city had hoped. At least not in January. The 5-cent tax on bottled water brought in $550,000 in the first month of this year, which is way short of the $875,000 the city projected. A spokeswoman for the Budget and Management Office says January isn't a good indicator of how much water people drink because it's so cold. Good thing there's no 5-cent hot......

Yesterday's Sun Times headline was all about the 12 percent pay hike Donna Dunnings - Todd Stroger's cousin and just one of many beneficiaries of Cook County's Friends and Family Plan - got out of the new 2008 county budget. When Stroger hired Dunnings, they both bragged that her salary would be far less than the previous CFO. Yesterday afternoon, however, Dunnings and aides from Stroger's office weren't talking about saving money for taxpayers. Instead,......

Palatine Republicans are so fed up with Cook County's sales tax hike, that they're taking their push for secession to the General Assembly. "It's a political powder keg to a certain extent," state Sen. Matt Murphy of Palatine told the Daily Herald. Murphy introduced a bill into the state senate last month that would make it easier for municipalities to leave the county. State Rep. Suzanne Bassi, a fellow Palatine Republican, introduced the same bill......

Mayor Daley introduced a $20 million budget cut today that includes a hiring freeze, cutting nonpersonnel costs, and the elimination of non-essential overtime. Daley said he'd back layoffs, too, if that's what it took to avoid raising taxes again. (Yes, we all know how he hates to raise taxes.) He says these cuts are necessary because a recession may impact the city's tax and fee–based revenue. "We are taking proactive steps to protect taxpayers before......

With the spate of recent tax increases in the region, Chicago's been trying to find a way to ease the pain. Earlier this month Mayor Daley announced that he had persuaded the Cook County Board of Review to reopen the appeals process for a special two-week period, so that homeowners who feel that their property tax has been assessed too high as a result of the downturn in the housing market could appeal. And yesterday......

Cartoon for Chicagoist by Tim Daly......

Mayor Daley sure is busy. Or at least chatty. Yesterday Mayor Daley said he asked the Cook County Board of Review to reopen the appeals process for a special two-week period, March 17-31, for homeowners who feel that their property tax has been assessed too high as a result of the downturn in the housing market. The City has given the board of review data about which areas have seen declining home values, and it......

Probably not. But in the wake of a series of tax hikes levied around the Chicago area, it seems people are downright pissed. In northwest suburban Palatine, village council members are floating the idea of seceding from Cook County. Like other municipal leaders in towns near the edge of Cook County, council member Scott Lamerand is frustrated with what he sees as the potential loss of revenue to lower taxed counties just across the border.......

Late Friday, Todd Stroger and nine other county commissioners worked to close the Cook County budget for 2008. The compromise deal doubled the county parking taxes and raised the sales tax to 1.75 percent - making Chicago one of the highest taxed cities in the nation. Those tax hikes, coupled with an agreement to cede control of the county Health Services Bureau to an independent oversight panel yielded the elusive ninth vote that Stroger had......

With Governor Blagojevich's gambling go-to guy under indictment and state lawmakers struggling to figure out if they can trust him with expanded gambling, (and trying to decide how they'll split the pie up among themselves), that other guy in the state's executive branch, Lt Governor Pat Quinn, called for a statewide referendum on gambling yesterday. In a press conference at the State of Illinois Building Monday, Quinn said "I think this is a perfect example......

Countdown to Smoke-Out 2008! In case you forgot, or were outside smoking when someone shared the news, come January 1 there will be no more smoking in public places, including bars, restaurants, casinos, dorms, stadiums and anywhere else that is inside, aside from personal homes and cars. No idea yet on whether there will be smoking shanties outside of bars frequented by die-hard smokers, or if bars frequented by die-hard smokers will really obey the......

In quick succession, the Cook County Board shot down a series of tax hikes yesterday, including proposed increases on electricity and natural gas. Five other increases backed by Democrat Roberto Maldanado, including taxes on SUVs, hotel stays, jet fuel and liquor sold in bars, died without support from any commissioners. The 2-14 vote against the electricity and natural gas taxes, proposed by Stroger ally Bill Beavers, signaled the unofficial death of Board President Todd Stroger's......

Of all the egregious things the city can do to property owners, from jacking property taxes to the current favorite, the misuse of TIFs, none seems more unfair and ripe for abuse as eminent domain. For the uninitiated, eminent domain allows the city government to seize ownership of private property, paying the owner whatever the city deems as "market value". It's supposed to be used for the "greater public good", such as the expansion......

Chicagoist wasn't the only one reminiscing about Harold Washington this week. With the Cook County Commission deadlocked over the budget, County Commissioner Bill Beavers lashed out at the opposition in a press conference yesterday, saying that if Stroger were white, his budget proposal would pass. “This is a remake of the Harold Washington days with the 29, 21,” Beavers said, adding “it’s basically dealing with who’s going to control the county, white or black.... If......

We're trying not to jinx it, but it looks like legislators might be solving the transit crisis, like, tomorrow. Mike Madigan agreed today to push for a Blago-backed plan that would use the State's share of the sales tax on gasoline in Cook and the five collar counties for the RTA. Even Daley's on board. Are we seeing a unicorn? Last week, Blagojevich endorsed Minority Leader Tom Cross's plan that would send around $385......

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the death of Harold Washington. The Chicago of 1983 was very different from the Chicago of 2007: factories were shutting down, and white middle-class homeowners were leaving the city in droves, taking their property taxes and urban stability with them. An alarming upswing in crime and drugs, coupled with escalating racial tensions left many Chicagoans nervous about the future. Richard J. Daley had been dead for seven years, and......