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Daily Southtown: Lincoln-Way 210 officials alerted district was heading for financial cliff in 2014, record shows
An independent financial firm in 2014 presented Lincoln-Way superintendent Scott Tingley with a dire five-year projection showing the district would be more than $8 million in the red and out of cash reserves by summer 2016, records show.
The district kept the firm’s findings secret from the public and, that summer, Tingley presented taxpayers with a supposedly balanced budget that records show he subsequently informed board members in private would be about $6 million in the red.
Crain's Chicago Business: Preckwinkle threatens 11 percent budget cut
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is going on offense as a vote nears on whether to repeal her highly unpopular tax on sweetened beverages, saying doing so could force an 11 percent across-the-board cut in county spending.
In a fiscal note sent to commissioners just before the weekend, Ammar Rizki, the county’s acting chief financial officer, said losing the tax would reduce county income slightly over $200 million in fiscal 2018 without a new revenue source, resulting in “an approximate 11 percent reduction to each of those departments and offices from their base FY2017 appropriated expenditures.”
Fox Illinois: Illinois among most expensive states for college tuition
Illinois is one of the most expensive states to go to college in the U.S., reports the Associated Press.
It has the fifth most expensive in-state college tuition in the nation, AP reports.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago hotels would have to give workers 'panic buttons' under plan aldermen advance
Chicago hotels would be required to provide portable “panic buttons” to workers like housecleaners who venture alone into guests’ rooms, under a plan aldermen advanced Monday.
Hotels also would need to post sexual harassment policies and promise workers would not face retribution if they reported sexual harassment or assault by guests. Employees would be guaranteed paid time off to file police reports or to testify in court against guests they say harassed or attacked them in the hotel.
Crain's Chicago Business: On this scorecard, Chicago rates 2nd in hunt for Amazon HQ
Chicago has some real and perhaps surprising strengths in the competition to lure Amazon’s so-called HQ2 and a promised 50,000 jobs, headed by a broad and deep labor pool, a new report out today concludes.
According to the study by Anderson Economic Group, a consultancy with offices here and Michigan that has worked with auto manufacturers and other firms, companies pretty much are looking for a set number of things when they’re picking a location for a headquarters. They prize access to the right kind of labor and support services, ease of transportation both by air and for commuters, and a relatively low cost of doing business.
Belleville News-Democrat: Bid for Amazon’s HQ2 needs St. Louis leaders to spread glue, toss scissors
Amazon’s $5 billion HQ2 with its 50,000 jobs paying about $100,000 each is one heck of a prize, so the competition is going to be intense. But unless we find a way to work together, the bid will showcase this region’s greatest weakness: Our inability to play nice with our neighbors.
Amazon made it clear they want one bid per region. So far we’ve seen leaders touting St. Louis, St. Louis County, St. Charles, St. Clair County, Madison County, East St. Louis, Edwardsville and Pontoon Beach.
Associated Press: Rauner OKs gender-sensitive approach to women inmates
Advocates for imprisoned women are thanking Gov. Bruce Rauner for signing a law requiring gender-appropriate and informed practices in the Illinois women’s prison and parole systems.
The Republican governor signed the measure drafted by the Chicago-based Women’s Justice Initiative last month. It’s part of the organization’s effort to adopt practices that recognize trauma women offenders often have suffered, ready them for community re-entry and reduce recidivism.
State Journal-Register: Illinois Supreme Court removes judge from second civil case
The Illinois Supreme Court has removed a Chicago judge from a pending wrongful death case in civil court for the second time in two years.
Court records show that Cook County Judge Daniel Lynch indicated in both cases that he’d uncovered wrongdoing or a conspiracy among parties. But attorneys in one of the cases accused Lynch of overstepping his authority.
Daily Herald: Arlington Heights will pay $45,000 to study TIF district
Arlington Heights will spend $45,860 on a study that would assess market conditions within the village’s fourth tax increment financing district to determine the highest and best use of property.
In August, the village board first discussed hiring Ehlers Inc., a municipal financial adviser, to study the area that encompasses 35 acres near Golf and Arlington Heights roads. But trustees tabled a vote until the village staff could talk to the owners of the International Plaza shopping center on Golf Road to see if they’d entertain the idea of selling the property — a proposition they’ve resisted for years.
Rockford Register-Star: Sheriff Gary Caruana will not make layoffs until every option is investigated
Chief Judge Joe McGraw and Sheriff Gary Caruana stood together today to fight multimillion-dollar cuts to law enforcement and courthouse security.
Last week the Winnebago County Board approved a balanced budget that calls for $6.8 million in cuts. That includes $4.3 million in cuts to the Sheriff’s Department that would require layoffs of as many as 100 employees. However, Caruana said today that he will not make the layoffs as planned. He called the $4.3 million cut the “result of a flawed budget process” and said he “would like to resume discussions with board members to explain the consequences of these deep cuts.”
Belleville News-Democrat: Saving county taxpayers a dime, taking away their large bills
Taxpayers recently got a good news-bad news story out of the St. Clair County Board.
Good news: They voted to reduce the financial impact of those getting a county retirement check as well as a current county paycheck.
Bad news: They voted to ask property taxpayers for much more than they will need.