Aldermen told details of Daley's raid on reserves
Mayor Daley will hold the line on taxes, fines and fees in 2010, but only after raiding at least $400 million from a cookie jar of cash reserves generated by city asset sales, aldermen were told Tuesday.
One week after the Chicago Sun-Times disclosed the Daley about-face that threatens the bond rating used to determine city borrowing costs, Budget Director Eugene Munin revealed the extent of the raid.
(Rich Hein/Sun-Times)
During closed-door briefings, aldermen were told Daley plans to tap the $400 million long-term reserve fund generated by the city's controversial parking meter deal.
The mayor also might tap mid-term reserves created by the city's lease of the Chicago Skyway. But Daley plans to appease Wall Street by leaving intact a $515.4 million long-term Skyway reserve fund.
That would leave roughly $864 million in mid- and long-term reserves from the combined, $3 billion take from those transactions, which gave private operators the right to pocket Skyway tolls for 99 years (ending in 2104) and parking-meter fees for 75 years (through 2084).
With voters still fuming about the steep schedule of rate hikes tied to the parking-meter deal, most aldermen welcomed Daley's decision to steer clear of more increases.
Over the last two years alone, the mayor has raised taxes, fines and fees by a whopping $329 million, including the largest property tax increase in Chicago history. "Nobody is gonna vote for a tax increase with all the problems people are having in the community," said Ald. Ed Smith (28th).