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* Schaumburg giving in to a property tax
One of the largest holdouts against a municipal property tax in the Chicago area is caving to new financial pressures.
Schaumburg trustees Tuesday recommended imposing the village’s first property tax.
Officials say they need a new funding source to make up for a $17.6 million deficit from dwindling sales tax revenues.
The proposed property tax would generate $23.7 million next year, coming in at 25 percent of general fund revenues.
* County Board knocks half-cent off sales tax
Tuesday’s 12-5 vote to shave a portion of last year’s unpopular penny-on-the-dollar sales hike isn’t a done deal yet: Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is vowing to veto the giveback.
Commissioners are confident they can beat back Stroger’s veto, thanks to a weeks-old law that lowers the votes needed to override a veto from 14 to 11.[…]
John Daley, the powerful head of the county’s Finance Committee, wrapped his message of “change” around an explanation for originally supporting last year’s sales tax hike. “When I had voted for the sales tax, I thought we would see some changes,” Daley said, saying the biggest chunk of money goes to running the offices of other elected leaders — the state’s attorney’s office to the sheriff.
And he told Stroger: “I urged a [hiring] freeze, and a freeze was not done. That’s your prerogative.”
* Cook County Board votes to roll back sales tax
If it holds, the latest attempt would decrease the county sales tax rate from 1.75 percent to 1.25 percent on July 1.
* How Cook County Board voted on sales tax cut
* County Board gives taxpayers a break
* John Daley: Don’t bring my nephew into this
Peraica, always the provocateur, suggested residents had fled the county after the 2008 sales tax hike, perhaps even one of the Daley clan.
“I read in the paper the mayor’s son, Patrick, has moved to Moscow and is living out there,” Peraica said, drawing the ire of the mayor’s brother and Patrick Daley’s uncle, Commissioner John Daley.
“You aren’t going to attack my nephew,” said Daley, his voice rising above the chatter and the rap of a gavel to restore order to the meeting.
* Sound bite of the day: Peraica versus Daley
* Peraica Regrets Election Tweet During Board Meeting
Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica says he should not have posted an internet comment that blurred the line between political and government resources.
* 2nd big trade show leaves to save cash
A plastics trade group announced Tuesday that it is leaving Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center for Orlando to save up to $20 million.[…]
It’s the second major trade show in two weeks to say it’s leaving Chicago. The announcement set off a cascade of events. Mayor Daley demanded yet another round of concessions from McCormick Place unions to cut trade-show operating costs.
Hours later, officials of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, also called McPier, which runs McCormick Place, announced a task force will start meeting today to come up with ways to make Chicago a more competitive destination for conventions.
“It’s a very serious loss,” Daley said. “It’s a major show. They were very upset with a lot of the rules and regulations that . . . McCormick Place has. When I met with the [trade show association] president and others, they were very concerned about the cost factor compared to Orlando, Atlanta and Vegas.”
* Daley demands union action to keep trade shows
* Chicago as Gouge City
“The total charge for four cases of Pepsi, delivered to our booth, was $345.39. The invoice breaks down to $254 for the four cases of Pepsi, a 21 percent service charge, and a 10.25 percent Illinois state sales tax, a 3 percent Chicago soft drink tax, a tax on the service charge, and a food and beverage tax. Government taxes totaled $38.06, which is more than the legitimate retail price of the soft drinks.
“Now, a nice man in a tuxedo delivered the Pepsi, along with a couple of buckets of ice and a few cups. Good service? Sure, but not worth $345.39.”
– Tim Hanrahan, CEO of a Massachusetts company that makes recycling machinery, on convention costs at McCormick Place.
* We all pay when city is up for sale
Chicago has, too, but in a different way now than in days of yore. In the old days — say four or five years ago and going back to its roots — one rented a piece of the city short-term if one wanted to do serious business here.[…]
Much of the old game has been curbed because they removed most of the truly lucrative aldermanic perks, and we now call the tips “campaign contributions.” Today the stakes are huge, the prices much higher, but you can get a very long-term lease — a virtual sale — of much of the city. And it’s all on the legit.
It is called privatization.
It’s not the old Roman way, but the new Chicago way, whose maestro is our beloved mayor hisself — Richard Michael Daley.
* Cuts, layoffs, furloughs — but no tax hike — in new city parks budget
The $392.8-million spending plan unveiled Tuesday evening calls for all workers to take 12 unpaid days off next year, up from three this year. If employee unions agree, the district will drop plans to eliminate 11 jobs, though 42 other, now-vacant positions still would go, officials said.
Boaters and those who use district’s day care services would pay 3% and 5% more, respectively. But cultural institutions that receive money from the district, including the Art Institute of Chicago and the Field Museum, would have to eat a 10% cut in public funding, as the district would keep roughly $3 million in tax receipts that ordinarily would go to them.
In a bit of fiscal musical chairs, the district also is reallocating into its operating fund $7.7 million in capital money that was supposed to be spent on physical improvements.
* Park District plans day camp, boat slip fee hikes
Fee increases for fitness center memberships, children’s summer camps and boat slips are part of a $392 million budget introduced by the Chicago Park District introduced this week.
An average 5 percent increase in fees will generate an estimated $2 million in revenues.[…]
The Park District proposed raising fees and slashing jobs to close a $23 million hole in the budget.
* Chicago park board set to raise fees
The increase would come as the park district prepares to reduce its subsidy to the city’s museums and aquarium by 10 percent next year, according to the budget. The move would save $3 million and help balance the projected $391.8 million budget, officials said.
“Our revenues are down, our costs are up, our endowment is down, our need for skilled staff is greater than ever,” Museum of Science and Industry spokeswoman Lisa Miner said. “We also anticipate that our share of tax revenue support from the park district will be down approximately $1 million.”
* $4.2 mil. sought for Grant Park design
Chicago Park District officials will ask the park board today to greenlight a $4.2 million design of a 25-acre expanse east of Millennium Park to Lake Shore Drive, said Gia Biagi, the district’s planning and development director.
* Orland Park will likely ban video gambling
Village officials in Orland Park delayed a vote on it a few months ago, saying they wanted to wait for the Illinois Gaming Board to finish writing rules and regulations for the video poker machines.
But public opposition has been mounting, even though the village could directly receive five percent of any revenue generated from the machines at a time when the village could be facing a period of budget shortfalls.[…]
Officials have scheduled a vote at the Dec. 7 village board meeting.
* Tazewell not amused by gaming law
County Board hopes to send message to state with ban
* Schaumburg Park Dist. ‘excellent’ in aquatics
* Burr Oak Cemetery set to reopen to the public
* Tinley Park tops in nation
Tinley Park is the top place in the country to raise a family, according to BusinessWeek’s annual ranking.
* Naperville reveals contents of time capsule from 1939
* Murder investigation tied to case of clerk’s bribe
* Do violence-prevention programs work? University of Chicago study hopes to find out
* Condo Owners Struggle to Salvage an Almost-Empty Building
Since 1997, Chicago has added almost 150,000 condos to its housing stock. The people who bought those units maybe didn’t fully realize it at the time, but they’re taking part in a big experiment in communal living.
Everyone has to pool their money to fix the roof or keep the elevator working. And if your neighbors stop ponying up, you’re on the hook.
Now the foreclosure crisis is pushing many condo buildings to the verge of collapse. And one expert says that here and around the country, the whole grand experiment may be falling to pieces.
* Trump Tower up to No. 6
Benefits from new way of measuring buildings, but it soon will fall to No. 7
* 2009 shaping up to be one of the wettest on record
* USDA says Illinois corn harvest lagging
About 52 percent of the corn crop had been harvested as of Monday compared to 31 percent a week earlier, but that is still well behind the 87 percent at this time last year and a five-year average of 95 percent.
* Illinois wants to hear from people with diabetes
posted by Mike Murray
Wednesday, Nov 18, 09 @ 9:28 am
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YES!!!!!!!!!!
1/2 cent per dollar. Alright! Call the Mercedes Dealer. I can see all of those new “small businesses” lining up to move to Cook County right now through my window. Right there… next to Alaska.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Nov 18, 09 @ 9:35 am
Over the years, I’ve done a lot of work for McCormick Place and the shows that go there.
There are good people working there. But it’s no secret that Mac Place is also a dumping ground for politial hacks, Outfit guys and their one-percenter biker henchmen.
Daley is using the recession to go after Mac Place unions, plus Streets and Sans and the Water Department. He’s showing some guts.
A lot of good-fellas have been at the trough at those places for a long time, doing next-to-nothing for the health insurance (their day jobs don’t offer it).
It’s a challenge to 80 years of standard Chicago business practice, and it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.
Dennis Gannon, the working-class hero, was absolutely hilarious on the news last night. Walter Reuther, he ain’t.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Nov 18, 09 @ 9:51 am
It is so sad to see this happening to McCormick Place. Yet, this has been a common complaint for over 20 years.
Associations and trade show companies are struggling to fill conventions, and start-ups and small businesses are struggling too. Even during boom times the cost of McCormick Place conventions was out of this world. In today’s Great Recession, McCormick has priced itself out of business.
I hope the Mayor and Governor can stop the bleeding. Once conventions leave their traditional hosting cities, they usually don’t return.
Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Nov 18, 09 @ 9:52 am
Is it about to begin wondering when the sharp as a tack IL media will begin asking the local pols why they want to unregulated video gambling machines in their towns instead of the machines approved by the gaming board ….hmmm
The Peoria Journal Star nearly fumbled into the topic this morning, but close onyl counts in horse shoes and had grenades.
Lets see do I want ABC & Sons Vending to deliver the poker machines or some company vetted by the same board that has been approving casino supplies without a hitch for nearly 20 years?
I know it is a tuffy for those brite lites on the city desk, but take your best shot
Comment by CircularFiringSquad Wednesday, Nov 18, 09 @ 10:04 am
VMan, you’re right about the Mac Place costs. They’re absurd and they’re driven even higher by the corruption there.
The bigger issue, though, is that trade shows are dying at the same time the inventory for convention space has been exploding. Like casinos, every po-dunk town in the country built a convention center as a hoped-for quick fix. You can get space for nothing — except Mac Place.
With today’s communications, you don’t need the big shows so much. It’s analagous to the old travelng salesman with a trunk of wares, a shoeshine and a smile. You don’t need them — you can go online.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Nov 18, 09 @ 10:06 am
The Chicago/Cook County Democratic Machine which is now running the state (our accidental guv Pat appears to be their guy, judging by supportive clucks from Mayor Daley and others) wants us to think they are concerned about our wallets. They think we can’t count, so when they hit us up for a large income tax increase in the spring, we are supposed to be grateful for this half penny decrease and say ok. The primary, which is shaping up to be a referendum on Pat’s middle class income tax increase, will churn up our Pat, who will have the resources of the Machine behind him. His tax increase will produce billions down the years and that Machine no doubt has plans for a goodly chunk of it.
Comment by cassandra Wednesday, Nov 18, 09 @ 10:09 am
The time for action on McCormick place was long ago. Instead of gauging the trade shows and expanding the facility, we needed to give the conventioneers something to do. Overpriced restaurants and bars just can’t compete with Orlando-where you can bring your whole family on the company dime and they can go to a host of fun places or Vegas, where they can go to Vegas.
Being a nervous flyer, I had a bloody mary at O’Hare Airport the other day. How much do you think it cost? Keep in mind, the bartender asked me what type of Vodka I wanted. I said Smirnoff.
The price was $14.00 plus tip. Imagine if I said Grey Goose.
My company goes to Vegas, Hawaii and many other places for our meetings because Chicago is viewed as an overpriced and undesirable place to be.
Wordslinger is right that McCormick place is a haven for corruption but Daley gets no credit from me for letting it stay that way for decades until the bubble burst.
Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Wednesday, Nov 18, 09 @ 10:22 am
PJW, Chicago is still desirable for some potent shows, RSNA, which will be coming here the week after Thanksgiving, being the Big Kahuna.
Some of the good ones don’t want the distractions of casinos and Disneyworld. They want their people on the floor or in the classroom.
Still, it’s a rapidly shrinking market. And we’ve got about another 20 years on the Mac Place West bonds, and they can’t make their nut now.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Nov 18, 09 @ 10:47 am
Does no one else see the irony of spending 4.2 million dollars for design of a new park right next door the the nearly 500 million Millennium Park when the entire traditional revenue stream is collapsing?
The Pier authority is having trouble paying back their bonds, the City is bleeding red on many fronts and is selling off revenue streams in pieces, the County is losing business because it’s taxes are too high.
I’m sure a new park would be nice, but the space there is nice already. How about some sanity and waiting until the financial storm settles down. Perhaps there is a relative in a design firm that needs the work?
The common factor is that all these bodies are run by lifelong Democrats who enrich themselves and their friends from the taxes they collect without impunity.
How long will the house of cards remain standing?
Comment by Plutocrat03 Wednesday, Nov 18, 09 @ 10:54 am
so the investigator needs to be investigated. wonder where Professor (if one can call him that) Protess found Seritella?
Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Nov 18, 09 @ 11:57 am
Word, I would imagine it won’t be too long before even the Radiologists bail. Contrary to McPier belief, their pockets are not endless. Besides, if you ever saw them out on the town, distractions don’t seem to be an issue.
To me, Chicago’s two main strengths are transportation and our convention industry. Both of which feed off of eachother. I read Mary Schmitt in the Trib today and she is right, the City is in a funk. A bad one.
Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Wednesday, Nov 18, 09 @ 12:53 pm
Hey Rich -
Any AP layoffs announced in our region? How about O’Connor? Heard anything?
Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Nov 18, 09 @ 4:13 pm