CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Rival mayoral candidate Ald. Raymond Lopez doesn't seem to think much of Mayor Lori Lightfoot's $16.4 billion spending plan, despite holding the line on property taxes and spending more on police. He said it's smoke and mirrors designed to shore up her re-election bid.
“It’s meant to be inspiring on the cusp of her hopeful re-election, but there are many things in this budget that are just wrong,” Lopez said.
But Laurence Msall, president of the fiscally minded Civic Federation, told reporters the finances underlying the mayor's budget look sound at first blush.
He said city revenues are higher than anyone expected them to be, which has given the administration money to make new investments while paying down its pension debt.
“The economy has come back stronger than anyone would have predicted,” Msall said. “The federal money was still important and useful — and does have an impact on the city’s finances — but the trend is stronger revenue growth than, even, the expenditure growth of the city. It’s good to be lucky.”
Although Msall hasn’t done his deep dive into the budget books yet, he said he found a lot to like in Lightfoot's outline before the City Council.
“No property tax increase, no real general tax increases, and enough money to invest $100 million in police and do so many other things,” he said. “This is a pretty ‘good news’ budget.”
He told reporters, though, it’s not all positive.
“There are challenges for the City of Chicago going forward,” Msall said. “The mayor talked about McCormick Place. We want to see McCormick Place fully opened. We want to make sure that we can pay all of our hospitality-related taxes and those revenues continue. But the general numbers that are in this budget … is just exceptional revenue growth.”
Msall said he’s likely to have more to say later this week, after a closer look into the mayor’s proposed budget.
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