Chicago Budget

City Asking Police, Firefighters To Take Furloughs

Chicago Tribune | Hal Dardick and John Byrne | Posted 10.29.2009 | Chicago


Mayor Richard Daley and some aldermen suggested today that police officers and firefighters take off nearly five weeks without pay to cut city spendin...

Aldermen Threaten To Reject Big Pay Raises For Cops

Chicago Sun-Times | Fran Spielman | Posted 10.28.2009 | Chicago


If an independent arbitrator awards double-digit pay hikes to Chicago Police officers, there's a good chance the City Council will reject it, some ald...

Red Light Camera Expansion Halted By Budget Cuts

Chicago Sun-Times | FRAN SPIELMAN | Posted 10.26.2009 | Chicago


Chicago's worst budget crisis in modern history has put the brakes on plans to expand the city's Big Brother network of red-light cameras to more than...

Old Enough to Know Better, Young Enough to Pretend: Can the Chicago News Cooperative Succeed?

Daniel Sinker | Posted 10.23.2009 | Chicago


Daniel Sinker

If there was a better day to announce the News Cooperative, I can't think of it. After Mayor Daley's budget address, the two major papers ran the same cover: a 24-year-old kidnapping.

After Parking Meters, Five Other Public Assets Daley Could Sell

Chicago Sun-Times | FRAN SPIELMAN | Posted 10.23.2009 | Chicago


After draining reserve funds generated by city asset sales, Mayor Daley has hitched Chicago's financial future to continuing the Great Chicago sell-of...

New City Budget Pulling $370M From Parking Meter Deal To Help Plug $550M Hole

CBS 2 | Posted 10.21.2009 | Chicago


You won't be paying any new taxes, but you also won't get to enjoy Venetian night and other long-running city events anymore either, as Mayor Richard ...

Venetian Night Could Fall Victim To Budget Crunch

Chicago Sun-Times | FRAN SPIELMAN | Posted 10.20.2009 | Chicago


Venetian Night -- Chicago's annual parade of illuminated boat floats that draws up to 500,000 people to the lakefront -- could be sunk, thanks to cost...

Daley: City Too Broke To Fill All 591 Police Vacancies

Chicago Sun-Times | FRAN SPIELMAN | Posted 10.20.2009 | Chicago


After hiring only 46 Chicago Police officers all year, Mayor Daley acknowledged Monday that the slowdown would continue in 2010, dramatically impactin...

Daley Plans 24 Unpaid Days For Thousands Of City Workers

Chicago Sun-Times | FRAN SPIELMAN | Posted 10.19.2009 | Chicago


Mayor Daley said Monday he would eliminate 220 vacant city jobs, cancel cost-of living pay raises for 3,500 non-union employees and order those bureau...

Lessons Learned From the Olympic Fiasco

Tom Tresser | Posted 10.19.2009 | Chicago


Tom Tresser

If citizens want to be protected from bad government and further rip-offs, we are going to have to rise to a new level of involvement. I have little hope that our elected representatives will truly represent us.

Daley Promises No New Taxes, Fines Or Fees In 2010 Budget

Chicago Sun-Times | FRAN SPIELMAN | Posted 10.15.2009 | Chicago


Arguing that Chicagoans are "suffering" and can't stand to pay any more, Mayor Daley said Thursday he would hold the line all taxes, fines and fees in...

Daley Heads To D.C. With His Hand Out

Crain's Chicago Business | Greg Hinz | Posted 09.19.2009 | Chicago


Mayor Richard M. Daley is in Washington, D.C., meeting with federal officials and, like Oliver Twist, he asked for one thing: more....

Chicago Shuts Down City Government On Monday To Save Money

CBS 2 | Posted 09.15.2009 | Chicago


If you planned to check out a library book, visit a city clinic or have your garbage picked up on Monday, you're out of luck. The City of Chicago wil...

Tax Increase Possible As City Budget Gap Reaches $520 Million

Chicago Tribune | Hal Dardick | Posted 08.30.2009 | Chicago


Even after the city exhausts a $320 million rainy day fund created by leasing the city's parking meters, it still must find $520 million in costs savi...

Daley Orders Employees To Forfeit Raises, Take Furlough Days

Chicago Sun-Times | FRAN SPIELMAN | Posted 08.28.2009 | Chicago


Two thousand non-union employees at six government agencies under Mayor Daley's control will be ordered to take furlough days and forfeit 2009 pay rai...

Daley Lays Off 431 City Workers After Unions Don't Blink

Huffington Post | Posted 08.14.2009 | Chicago


UPDATE 431 city workers were laid off Wednesday after two unions and the Daley administration were unable to reach an agreement by a 5 p.m. deadline,...

City To Deploy Debt Collectors As Budget Gap Grows

Chicago Tribune | Dan Mihalopoulos | Posted 08.08.2009 | Chicago


The same bill collectors who pester debtors on behalf of credit-card companies are being recruited by Chicago City Hall to go after anybody who owes m...

Daley, Union Leaders Meet About City's Proposed Layoffs

Chicago Sun-Times | Fran Spielman | Posted 07.16.2009 | Chicago


Chicago Federation of Labor President Dennis Gannon emerged from an hour-long meeting with Mayor Daley today predicting that a painful package of unio...

Broke Chicago: As Budget Hole Nears $300 Million City Could Lay Off 1,500 Workers, Tap Parking Meter Money

AP/Huffington Post | Posted 07.13.2009 | Chicago


Chicago is facing a budget deficit close to $300 million and city officials say they will need to lay off nearly 1,500 city workers unless union offic...

City Threatens Hundreds Of Layoffs Beginning Next Week

AP | Posted 07.05.2009 | Chicago


CHICAGO (AP) -- A union refusal to agree to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's demand that members take 16 days off without pay and accept compensatory tim...

Aldermen Exempt Themselves From City-Wide Furloughs: CBS

CBS 2 | Posted 06.14.2009 | Chicago


Furlough days are forcing thousands of Chicago city workers to take days off without pay. CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine found out that, typical...

City Budget Gap Widens Nearly $20M In A Month

WBBM Newsradio | Posted 05.10.2009 | Chicago


Chicago's new Chief Financial Officer Gene Saffold says that a $33 million dollar budget gap a month ago has now turned into a $51 million dollar shor...

City Budget Hole Deepens: Shortfall Could Be $200 Million

Chicago Tribune | Hal Dardick | Posted 04.06.2009 | Chicago


If the economy continues to tank, the city budget could fall $200 million short by year's end, the mayor's top aide said today. A quarter of the way ...

City Budget Gap Widens To Over $60M, More Big Cuts Loom

Chicago Sun-Times | Fran Spielman | Posted 04.06.2009 | Chicago


Nose-diving revenues have forced Chicago's 2009 budget at least $10 million deeper into the hole -- to a gap of well over $60.5 million -- turning up ...

Daley Cancels "Non-Essentials": What Will be Lost in Translation?

Esther J. Cepeda | Posted 04.04.2009 | Chicago


Esther J. Cepeda

Is the City really saying that guides for finding affordable housing, emergency services and getting legal help in other languages are not necessary to service our internationally-populated town?