BUDGET BLUES: The city of Chicago’s budget problems have hit a breaking point, forcing Mayor Brandon Johnson to freeze hiring and travel across all city departments, including police and fire, his team announced Monday. It’s a band-aid fix for a huge problem — a $223 million budget gap that needs to be filled this year and a looming $982.4 million deficit next year. What it means: “We’ve kind of maxed out the credit card and maxed out the people who pay the credit card. That’s the taxpayer,” said Civic Federation President Joe Ferguson, referring to the city’s ability to raise taxes. “There’s just no more give,” and it comes as Chicago Public Schools faces its own financial crisis, Ferguson told Playbook. All up in the air: Johnson doesn’t want to raise property taxes, though he hasn’t ruled it out, reports Block Club’s Quinn Myers. State officials have signaled there’s little or limited help available from Springfield. And there’s concern the city’s financial situation could put recent positive bond ratings at risk. This isn’t the first time the City of Chicago has been in dire financial straits. “We’ve had budget deficits in the past, and under Rich Daley some assets were sold to plug their deficits. I don’t know what Johnson has to work with,” said Bill Singer, a former alderman and long-time civic leader, referring to the budget deficit faced by then-Mayor Richard M. Daley in 2007. Back then, Daley tried to fix it with across-the-board cuts and rescinding pay raises for non-union employees. That helped, but it was the controversial parking meter deal that ultimately got the city out of its budget hole. In 2008, the city sold all 36,000 of its parking meter spots for 75 years for $1.15 billion. Today is different: “The options are limited,” said Ald. Scott Waguespack, who was around in 2007 for the parking meter deal (and voted against it). “This time, there’s nothing to sell. They can’t really do anything but go for property tax.” Another comparison: Daley also promoted downtown growth, which in turn helped boost the property tax base. Budget directors can nip and tuck a budget, but revenue comes from development policies. “Money comes from growth,” Singer said, “and that’s what we need more of.” Staying positive: Ferguson hopes City Hall looks for solutions for streamlining government. The Civic Federation is working on a report that will offer recommendations on how the city can pull itself out of debt. What’s next: “The mayor is expected to recommend a budget to the City Council in October. He will then have until the end of the year to convince at least 26 of 50 aldermen to support the plan or make changes to get the majority he needs,” by the Tribune’s Alice Yin and Sam Charles. RELATED — Mayor’s chief liaison to emboldened City Council resigns: “Sydney Holman’s resignation as deputy mayor of intergovernmental affairs could not come at a more difficult time. Mayor Brandon Johnson is heading into what is certain to be a difficult budget season and struggling to find the votes to confirm his choice for Zoning Committee chair, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez,” by the Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman. — It’s now expected that Kennedy Bartley, a leader in Johnson's progressive movement, will head up the mayor’s budget efforts, by Crain’s Justin Laurence — Turnover roils Chicago’s cultural affairs department under new commissioner: “Some city cultural advisers worry the loss of institutional expertise could impact a department responsible for major events and artist grants,” by Courtney Kueppers for WBEZ.
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