For the city’s finances, July’s been a month of carnage. The perpetually broke Chicago Public Schools announced plans to empty their reserves in order to pay basic bills. The police department’s got cops working overtime—amid the latest wave of shootings— because there’s not enough money to hire police at the pace they’re retiring.
Most notably, the last big downtown TIF, the LaSalle Central, will take in zero money, Orr says. That could spell trouble, since the city anticipated collecting $12.5 million in each of the next three years and is already on the hook to pay millions in subsidies to MillerCoors, United Airlines, and other profitable firms.
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But as property values fall, less money goes into the slush fund, which means Mayor Emanuel faces a quandary: how does he take care of his friends?
Fair enough—a world-class institution should have a nearby hotel. But the 53rd Street TIF was created to help small businesses, not a university with a $6.6 billion endowment, which should be enough to build one lousy hotel without a handout.
Translation? They got theirs so we need ours!
