A week’s worth of developing stories, odd events, and signs of the times, culled from the desks, inboxes, and wandering eyes of the editors
Truth in Taxation
The city held required “truth in taxation” public hearings on Monday, but this truth probably won’t be greeted enthusiastically by many Chicagoans. The Emanuel administration plans to raise the property tax levy this year by 37.7 percent—from $861 million to roughly $1.2 billion. As DNAinfo reported, Alderman Edmund Burke cited projections that the levy would continue to rise, reaching $1.4 billion in 2018. According to the administration, these new taxes are necessary for the city to cover its pension payments to police and firefighters, as the city’s budget woes continue. Homeowners might be partially reprieved from the effects of this giant hike if a state bill doubling the homeowner exemption on assessed value is passed—not a likely proposition.
Inspiration (Remix)
What gets R. Kelly choked up? His high school music teacher, according to a Sun-Times video interview. Lena McLin, the first person to identify and encourage his musical talent, was close to losing her apartment at 69th and Oglesby, which is being converted into condos unaffordable on a teacher’s pension. A former student created a GoFundMe to help McLin out, and Kelly just performed at a benefit concert October 14 to support her. But what really makes McLin “the greatest human being on the planet and the earth,” as Kelly dubs her? Well, “she don’t complain.” If you only listened to Kelly, you’d be forgiven for not knowing McLin is also famous in her own right: a composer of more than 400 works, one of which was performed at Carnegie Hall, and possessor of a healthily sized Wikipedia article to boot. As for McLin’s plight post-concert, Kelly said she now has the $147,000 needed to convert and purchase a condo—“he thinks.”
Trash for Cash
Rahm Emanuel’s most recent unpopular idea this budget season is to start charging Chicago residents for trash pickup. All possible garbage jokes have already been made—mostly by city aldermen—who are lining up to criticize the proposal. The idea hasn’t gone away, however, and its newest iteration is to charge residences by the volume of trash they throw away. Alderman Pat Dowell calls the move a “slippery slope” towards forcing Chicagoans to pay for other city services, and opponents far and wide fear Chicago’s streets will be lined with rubbish as residents start choosing to litter instead of adding to their garbage pickup bill.