After hours of tense and contentious debate, the Chicago City Council adopted Friday two of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s top priorities: his $1.25 billion borrowing plan for economic development and affordable housing, as well as $70 million to assist the city in sheltering refugees.
Fragments within the council and its caucuses were on plain show during the debate over the expenditure issues. The votes came as aldermen from all political parties expressed their displeasure with Johnson for a lack of openness in expenditure and a need for a deeper commitment to long-disinvested communities.
“While the city was able to tap into the rainy day fund to come up with $70 million dollars to bring the migrants inside, Black folks are left standing outside in the rain again,” said Ald. Desmon Yancy, 5th Ward, who urged Johnson to commit the same amount to the Black community and “no longer put Black Chicago on the back burner.”
And aldermen pointed fingers at one another. During the debate on migrant financing, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez of the 25th Ward accused colleagues of “bigotry and ignorance.” Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th Ward, issued a strong censure and requested a public apology.
The borrowing proposal was finally passed 32-17, but the $70 million for migrant spending was authorized 30-18, with ten members of the City Council’s Black Caucus voting against it.
The borrowing plan is the freshman mayor’s first significant development proposal, and it is based on the expiration of dozens of contentious tax increment financing, or TIF, districts, which divert tax dollars away from the city’s general funds to fund local development initiatives.
The concept received support from prominent fiscal groups such as The Civic Federation, which praised the proposal for reducing the city’s dependency on TIF districts and redirecting recaptured cash to affordable housing and economic development.
City officials expect that expiring TIF districts will result in approximately $2.2 billion in increased revenue returning to the city over the next 15 years alone. The city would use the recouped tax revenue to pay off the debt, which is anticipated to total $2.4 billion over 37 years.
The first five years’ funds would be distributed evenly between the city’s housing and planning and development departments to fund neighborhood development grants, small business assistance, the construction and preservation of affordable rental housing, homeownership preservation, and other initiatives.
While TIF districts were meant to remove blight, detractors argue that they are ineffective in poor areas that require the most growth and investment.
“I’m excited that communities like Rogers Park, like Englewood, like Auburn Gresham, and other parts of the city who don’t have development tools are finally going to get some attention,” said Ald. Maria Hadden, 49th Ward alderman.
To address initial concerns about how projects would be picked, Johnson’s administration incorporated more transparency standards and City Council approval for projects receiving more than $5 million in financing under the plan.
However, that was insufficient for several council members, who pushed again on Friday to reduce the entire bond amount and give City Council greater influence.
Alderpersons defeated Ald. Bill Conway, 34th Ward, in his bid to reduce the bond amount to $750 million dollars, and Alds. Brendan Reilly and Raymond Lopez were narrowly defeated in their attempts to lower the threshold for City Council approval to $1 million and $2.5 million, respectively.
“This threshold is just too high,” the alderman said. Samantha Nugent, 39th Ward, spoke about the $5 million cap. “…There isn’t enough transparency. I don’t think that merely posting tasks on a website is especially transparent or a pass for supervision.
Budget Committee Chair Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th Ward, emphasized that Johnson’s proposed $70 million increase in migrant financing is a small portion of the city’s $16.8 billion budget and urged colleagues to approve it.
“A rising tide lifts all boats,” Ervin explained. “But we can’t keep dividing ourselves into such small parts that we become ineffectual. Who wins, then?”
The decision to transfer funds from city reserves to fund migrant care comes as other levels of government provide financial assistance to migrants. On Thursday, Cook County Commissioners unanimously approved transferring up to $70 million in county disaster response and recovery funds to the city to help offset costs.
Gov. JB Pritzker announced a collaborative funding proposal two months ago, but the city was noticeably absent. He also stated that he will seek an additional $182 million in the state budget to support migrants.
Cook County also offered the suburbs $20 million in grants to help migrants, though few suburbs applied. Beale encouraged the city to discontinue providing assistance.
“If you cut off the funding spigot, they won’t come,” Beale stated to a cheer of “good” from the audience.
According to official figures as of April 10, more than $310 million has been spent on housing, support, and care for asylum-seekers who arrive in the city.
Johnson’s budget director told aldermen last week that the $70 million is intended to last the city until the end of the year. Despite assurances that drawing from the city’s reserves would have no negative impact on the city’s fiscal health or commitment to advance pension payments, some aldermen were still upset by the move and raised long-standing concerns that disinvested communities had not received an infusion of funding in return.
“That is a conundrum.” I mean, they want to help. “They want help,” Ald David Moore, 17th Ward, remarked of his constituents.
Ald. Nicole Lee, whose 11th Ward borders a crowded Pilsen shelter where there has been a recent measles outbreak and a boy died of sepsis last year, said, “We’re paying Ritz Carlton rates for Super 8 service.”
“You can order as many steaks as you like from the menu, but somebody has to pay. The problem is that those who pay aren’t eating,” said Ald. Jim Gardiner of the 45th Ward. “The only ones eating are those who have contracts. “They are at an all-you-can-eat buffet.”
Ald. Andre Vasquez stated that the split and strife only benefit the Republican Party in the long run.
“The people who are sending buses out here want to see all of us fight because this is Chicago. “It is hosting the Democratic Convention,” Vasquez explained.
On Friday, the City Council approved $48 million in state and federal grant funding for the Department of Family and Support Services, which would help with asylum-seeker shelter and care. Additional government money are on the way.