Mayor Lori Lightfoot has unveiled her budget plan for 2022, a plan that one alderman called a “Christmas list” of progressive spending items. We break it all down with four Chicago reporters.
Chicago Budget
Before the pandemic, Chicago finance officials projected that the city would eliminate its longstanding imbalance between revenues and expenditures and reach structural balance in 2023. In all, the pandemic cost the city $1.7 billion, complicating those efforts.
A look at the city’s past, present and fiscal future with the outgoing city budget director who is stepping down after six years.
The $8.2 billion spending plan doesn’t contain nearly as much pain for city taxpayers as last year’s budget, but grocery shopping could get a bit more expensive.
Have decades of budgetary tricks and rising pension costs made bankruptcy inevitable for the city of Chicago as well as its public school system? We debate the issue.
With the city's finances in a dire state and Mayor Rahm Emanuel looking to borrow billions, “Chicago Tonight” sits down with the head of the City Council's independent budget office, Ben Winick.
Joel Weisman and his panel of guests discuss the guilty plea of Dennis Hastert in a mysterious hush-money case, reports of a federal investigation surrounding Cook County Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, the mayor's budget that sailed through City Council, and other top stories of the week.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel's record $588 million property tax hike sailed through the City Council today with only 15 aldermen voting against it. The hike is the centerpiece of Emanuel's bad news budget that imposes additional taxes and fees. We speak with a panel of aldermen about the budget and how they voted.
"I'm not going to allow Springfield's dysfunction to become Chicago's dysfunction," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said during an extended interview before Wednesday's City Council vote on his proposed budget that includes a nearly $600 million property tax hike.
Living in the Chicago area is about to get even more expensive. Not only is Mayor Rahm Emanuel seeking a record high property tax increase to help shore up police and firefighter pensions. But today Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is asking for a county tax on recreational activities like golfing and cable TV to help plug the county's budget deficit.
We share what you had to say about some of our recent stories when we read viewer feedback from the "Chicago Tonight" website, and our Facebook and Twitter pages.
Joel Weisman and his panel of guests discuss top stories of the week, including the issue of gun violence and a new push for tighter gun laws.
Amid controversy and an outcry from parents and principals regarding budget cuts to special education and layoffs for teachers and aides, CPS announces plans to change the way the district serves students with special needs. Tonight, find out how the district plans to change its focus.
Eddie Arruza and his panel of guests discuss the mayor’s budget proposal and other top stories of the week.
Emanuel: ‘I’m here to fix these challenges’
Mayor Rahm Emanuel joins us for his first extended interview since proposing his so-called "last resort" budget.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel joins "Chicago Tonight" on Thursday to discuss his proposed $7.8 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year. We’ll ask him about the tax and fee hikes he’s pitching. What questions do you have for the mayor?
