Nov. 20--The Chicago City Council on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel's 2015 budget, a $7.3 billion spending plan that includes some tax increases but puts off dealing with the city's most vexing financial woes until after next year's elections.
The 46-4 vote followed 90 minutes of accolades and few brickbats from aldermen who can now put it behind them and hit the campaign trail having only raised taxes on cable TV service and parking. Some aldermen who have long sought to project progressive images suggested voting "no" isn't the only way of promoting reform.
"I do think part of what is wrong in the way we do things is the narrative that we've created over many years, and that's that if you simply vote no you're a reformer, if you vote yes you're a rubber stamp," said Ald. Ameya Pawar, 47th.
Ald. Joe Moore, 49th, followed up. "A rubber-stamp 'no' vote is just as bad as a rubber stamp 'yes' vote," he said.
After the vote, Emanuel noted it's his fourth budget in a row that doesn't raise city property, sales or gas taxes, a point he often makes. "This is a different day than where we were when we all got elected," said the mayor, who is seeking a second term on Feb. 24.
But a Tribune analysis published Wednesday found that a typical Chicago family -- with a $250,000 home, metered water service, an average cable TV bill, three phones, a car and an SUV -- will pay nearly $481 more in fees and taxes next year then they paid in 2011, when Emanuel took office. That's equal to a 60 percent increase in the city and library tax levies.
"We reach into the pocketbooks of taxpayers even deeper with fees, fines and taxes," said Ald. John Arena, 45th, a frequent aldermanic critic who vote against the budget.
Emanuel responded to the notion that city residents have been hard hit with taxes, fees and fines under his administration by pointing out some of the hikes have affected suburban residents and large corporations. He also dismissed the idea that he's putting off the city's most worrisome financial problems by saying the city has time to find solutions and "we're going to work through those issues."
That's a reference to the $550 million in increased payments due to the city's police and fire pension funds in 2016 if Emanuel cannot get the General Assembly to grant some relief. Even if Emanuel were to secure changes to state law, and they survived a potential court challenge, the city would have to come up with a lesser but still substantial increase in payments to those funds.
Pension talks with the police and fire unions are on hold as the Illinois Supreme Court waits to weigh in on whether a state law changing the benefits of retired state workers is constitutional. If it's not, an earlier deal Emanuel made with city workers and laborers to restore long term financial health to their pension plans could be in jeopardy.
The state Supreme Court already has overturned changes to health care benefits for retired state workers. "The court has gummed up the works," Emanuel said Wednesday.
The mayor has insisted that he can't take action on the police and fire pension issue until he knows what kind of deal he can work out with the unions representing police officers and firefighters. That way, he won't be committing taxpayers to additional payments without first exacting concessions from the unions, the mayor says.
There's also an extra $50 million he'll have to come up with in each of the next four years to cover increased payments to city's worker and laborer pension funds under legislation he got passed this year. He covered the first $50 million increase this year by increasing the emergency services fee on phones -- at a cost of $50.40a year to a family with three phones -- and then shifting other freed up money to the pension fund payments.
Arena also criticized the mayor for the continued phase out of health insurance subsidies for retired city workers -- a move that will reduce city spending next year by $52 million from 2013 spending levels-- and his lack of plans to expand the city police force as some neighborhoods still struggle with stubbornly high violent crime rates.
Also opposing the mayor's budget were aldermen who are frequent Emanuel critics: Robert Fioretti, 2nd, who is running for mayor; Toni Foulkes, 15th; and Scott Waguespack, 32nd.
Fioretti criticized the mayor for continuing the practice of restructuring debt in a way that pushes payments onto future generations at a higher cost, a practice called "scoop and toss" that was highlighted in the Tribune's "Broken Bonds" series.
Next year, the city is reducing debt payments by $120.8 million through a bond restructuring that will cost the city an extra $228.8 million in interest over the next 30 years, according to the non-partisan Civic Federation budget watchdog group. Other restructurings have led to $218 million in additional costs, according to the group.
"Not only is this trend of refunding current principal debt payments a costly and unsustainable way to address current budget deficits, it also threatens the city's ability to issue long-term debt for ongoing capital investments by filling the out-years of the city's debt service schedule with previously issued bonds," according to the organization's analysis of the 2015 budget proposal.
