Privatizing Taste on the table to balance budget

August 26, 2010|By John Byrne and Todd Lighty, Tribune Reporters
Mayor Richard Daley is looking at getting the city out of the festival business and handing off curbside recycling to a private company as he scrambles to fill a big budget hole without raising taxes before February's election.

The nearly $655 million record shortfall is so severe, the mayor is even willing to consider tapping into a previously untouchable pool of development money to make ends meet.

"People don't want to see government growing. They don't want to see their taxes growing," Daley said Thursday at a City Hall news conference. "This is very, very difficult economic times."

But Daley provided no details on how much money the privatization efforts could fetch or how many city workers could lose their jobs. And observers noted all of the ideas Daley floated won't balance the budget. They wondered what else the mayor might put in play before he presents his financial plan to the City Council in mid-October.

"The mayor is giving away too much, and yet these proposals won't begin to address the shortfall we're looking at," said Ald. Robert Fioretti, 2nd.

As Daley rolled out his patchwork of potential budget solutions, he once again warned that service cuts can't be ruled out next year. Slicing services before voters go to the polls could prove problematic, however.

Daley is limiting his options this time around after raising property taxes in 2007, selling off parking meters and raising fees in 2008 and spending reserves last year. The mayor reiterated Thursday that he won't be increasing taxes or fees or auctioning off other assets to balance his new budget as he awaits an economic turnaround.

Despite the financial maneuvering, Daley's budgets have failed to stay balanced the last few years, resulting in unpaid days off and concessions by unionized city workers. The mayor wants more of that next year.

Daley also suggested putting out for bid all of the city's lakefront festivals, including the mammoth Taste of Chicago. Hiring a company to run such events could save the city money, and the mayor said there's already been interest by potential bidders.

In addition, City Hall will seek to privatize the curbside recycling program that now reaches about 241,000 homes in 29 of 50 wards. Daley said he hopes privatization will bring enough savings to expand the household blue bin program, which has stalled in recent years in a blow to his image as a "green mayor." But he acknowledged citywide recycling is not in the cards for the foreseeable future.