CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — As budget hearings continue at city hall, several alderpersons say the city of Chicago is being taken advantage of by companies putting on some big neighborhood festivals.
Make no mistake, most city council members like neighborhood festivals. Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), though, said the event companies that put them on usually do not cover the costs of police, sanitation and other services that make them possible. Not good, he said, when the administration's asking for a property tax hike.
“Using police officers and paramedics to support large, private and oftentimes profit-making special events, that’s not a luxury we have,” he said. “Bureaucrats may think this stuff is free, but our constituents — the taxpayers — pay for it.”
Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) Commissioner Clinée Hedspeth acknowledged the imbalance.
“The permitting fee is about $100 – $200,” she said. “Because we don’t provide the approval or denial, we aren’t part of the process of how it’s budgeted for CPD, Streets and Sanitation, or CDOT.”
She promised to focus more on generating revenue.
Another focus of the DCASE hearing was Chicago’s success in attracting movie and television productions.
The good news was that more than a dozen television shows and a few films have been made in Chicago in the last year or so. City Council Budget Committee Chair Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) said sometimes residents grow weary of the crews and street closures in their midst:
“The first day, ‘Oh it’s great; Oh, we’ve got such and such filming over here’ … [By] Day Four, they’re calling the office,” he said.
Jonah Zeiger, who runs the Chicago Film Office, says he knows:
“My team works day in and day out on coordinating impacts and trying to make sure that they are as minimal as possible on the communities,” Zeiger said. “All aldermen are welcome to express, directly, any concerns that you’re experiencing from your constituents.”
On the plus side, the productions mean money for the city and its businesses.
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok