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Chicago Tribune: Facing $838 million city budget shortfall, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot holds first town hall: ‘We actually value your opinion’
Tax visiting suburbanites. Stop offering pensions. Collect spare change.
Perhaps the only suggestion Chicago residents didn’t make to Mayor Lori Lightfoot at her first budget town hall was to hold a massive citywide garage sale.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago Teachers Union sets strike vote; CPS counters that fair deal is already on the table
The Chicago Teachers Union inched closer to a possible strike on Wednesday — one day after schools opened for the new school year.
The union announced late Wednesday that its House of Delegates agreed to set dates for a strike authorization vote later this month.
WTTW Chicago Tonight: The Legal Battle Over Lincoln Yards $1.3B TIF District
The battle over the massive $6 billion Lincoln Yards development is far from over.
A pending lawsuit aims to not only block $1.3 billion in tax increment financing – or TIF – but the advocacy groups behind the suit also want a temporary restraining order to prevent the developer, Sterling Bay, from moving forward with the project until the TIF litigation is settled.
WBEZ: Chicago Mayor More Than Doubles Budget For Legal Settlements
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is estimating the city will spend nearly $153 million fighting legal battles next year.
That number is more than double what has been budgeted in past years, but is closer to what the city has actually spent in recent years.
Chicago Tribune: Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts’ property tax assessment appeal on designer Wilmette home sent to state’s attorney
The Cook County Board of Review has referred to the state’s attorney its investigation of Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts’ property tax appeal on his designer Wilmette home after concluding that Ricketts and his real estate lawyer made “misrepresentations” that lowered tax bills by tens of thousands of dollars.
The tax appeals panel concluded that it “does not have sufficient evidence to establish” that either Ricketts or attorney James FortCamp “knowingly misled” officials. But the board also noted it does not have the authority to compel those involved to testify under oath.
Crain's Chicago Business: Sears slashing 250 jobs at Hoffman Estates HQ
“Affected employees will be placed on a paid administrative leave effective immediately for the time prior to the employment termination date,” Sears said in the Aug. 29 letter.