Chicago's Chief Financial Officer and next Chief of Staff for Mayor Richard M. Daley, Paul Volpe, called a news conference Friday morning, laying out the fire money mess Chicago was faced with 2008.
Standing at the center of several bar graphs, made to illustrate the dire financial condition of the city, Volpe acknowledged the city's estimates for 2008 revenue was way off. In fact, even after lowering expectations in September, the city was still $31 million short by year's end.
Volpe blames the national economy and the terrible housing market. Real estate taxes were sharply down in the last three months of 2008.
The real-estate transfer tax collections were far below the city's already-lowered estimates. The city expected to collect more than $30 million for the last three months of 2008 but instead collected just $20.5 million.
Sales tax collections dropped by millions of dollars in September compared to the year before, Volpe added. The city has yet to receive its sales tax revenue for the last three months of the year, but Volpe said he was not optimistic.
Volpe said the city's share of income taxes also is dropping -- a decline that began in October.
He also expressed concern about the 22 inches of snow that fell in December, which has an average snowfall of 8.4 inches, noting that the city spent $4.3 million more on snow removal than it had anticipated in the fall.
Along with the bad news, Volpe announced the city expected to save $21.8 million in fuel costs during 2009 because it has locked in its natural gas, gasoline and diesel costs. It also expects to save $11 million through investment restructuring, he said.
The city will look first to cost-saving measures, but could tap into a $325 million "stabilization" fund that will be created when the city closes the nearly $1.2 billion deal to lease parking meters for 75 years.
Comments (1)
WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHY ARE YOU GUYS SO AFRAID OF RICHARD J DAILEY. THIS GUY HAS ALL OF THE CITYS FUNDS TIED UP IN EVERY THING THAT HE WANTS HE ONLY PUTS THE FUND FOR USE IN THE DOWN TOWN AREA ONLY.
HE KEEPS ON SAYING THINGS LIKE GUN CONTROL WHEN HE SOLD THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OUT WHEN HE WANTED THE LAND THAT ROBERT TALOR HOMES OCCUPIED. LOOK MCCLEANDON
YOU HAVE NOT BEEN HERE LONG ENOUGH TO KNOW BUT THERE WAS A TIME WHEN THE VIOLENCE WAS SO BAD AT THE R.T HOMES THAT BLACK BUSSINESS MEN HAD TO WALK THE CHILDREN TO SCHOOL. IT WAS NOT GOOD BUT A LEAST WE KNEW WHERE THE IDIOTS OF THE CITY WHERE. NOW WITH WHAT DAILEY HAS DONE THEY ARE IN EVERY AREA. AND THIS WAS ALL DONE TO GET THE LAND THE R.T HOMES OCCUPIED BUT NO ONE EVER SAYS ANYTHING ABOUT THAT. THE STREETS AND THE COMMUNITY ARE THIS WAY BECAUSE OF WHAT DAILEY HAS DONE. AND ANOTHER THING WHEN ELECTION TIME ROLLS AROUND HOW IS IT THAT THIS GUY KEEPS ON WINNING, HOW DOES HE EVEN KNOW HE WILL BE IN OFFICE IN 2016? OH YEA HE WILL CALL ON THOSE SAME BLACK PREACHERS WHO HE ALWAYS CALLS ON TO BACK HIM, WHAT A BUNCH OF LOOSERS THEY ARE THEY SOLD THEIR SOULS TO THE DEVIL A LONG TIME AGO. JUST CHECK OUT SOME OF THE SWEET HEART DEALS THEY GET IN RETURN THE LAND IN THEIR COMMUNITY FOR INSTANCE. FITZGERALD SHOULD GET AWAY FROM THE GOV. AND GO AFTER A REAL BIG FISH, OH WAIT CAN'T DO THAT IF HE TO IS IN HIS POCKET.
Posted by john | January 6, 2009 11:46 AM
Posted on January 6, 2009 11:46