Officials say they’ll let enough special taxing districts expire to generate the money needed to pay back the debt. Some analysts are skeptical.
Government Finance & Accountability
Posted inInvestigating Responses
‘Green Alleys’ Help Prevent Flooding, But Vulnerable Neighborhoods Must Wait in Line
‘It’s a little bit of a shot-in-the-dark implementation strategy,’ a key City Council member said.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
The Inside Story on a Billion-Dollar Chemical Company’s Fight to Keep its Secrets From the Public
After the Cicero Independiente and MuckRock published investigative articles about air pollution and the chemicals company Koppers, it hired a public-relations firm to organize a secret, behind-the-scenes campaign to influence local officials.
Posted inInvestigations
311 Complaints and Fines Fail to Solve Usual City Winter Woe —Too Many Snow-Packed Sidewalks
As it considers pilot program to clear sidewalks, Chicago can look to Toronto, Syracuse where the cities do the plowing.
Posted inInvestigations
Landlord Pushes Tenants Out Despite Getting State Money
Tenants at an Englewood apartment building are left out in the cold after their landlord pockets rental assistance with little oversight from the state.
Posted inInvestigation
How the Koppers Plant Became, and Remains, Cicero’s Toxic Neighbor
The Koppers plant in Cicero has been found in violation of both state and federal environmental laws dating back 50 years — from the late 1970s until this past summer. A new Illinois EPA list of violations raises new questions about how much cancer-causing chemicals the plant is emitting.
Posted inFollow-Up
City Targets Real Estate Empire, Owing Millions in Rat-Related Tickets, as ‘Extreme Scofflaws’
Chicago attorneys want to merge several thousand court judgments, totaling more than $9.3 million, so they can be ‘pursued together in the most efficient manner possible’
Posted inInvestigations
Illinois Taxpayers Shell Out Hundreds of Millions as Prison Reform Lawsuits Grind On
The settlement agreements have prompted major changes for incarcerated people who are deaf, mentally ill or under the care of the state prison’s beleaguered healthcare system, but advocates argue more needs to be done.
Posted inFollow-Up
Alderpeople Want Meetings With CHA Boss After Investigation Revealed Vacant, Decaying Properties
City Council leaders, including the housing committee chair, renewed calls for CHA officials to attend regular hearings after an Illinois Answers/Block Club investigation found the agency is sitting on hundreds of vacant homes.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
As City Battles Housing Shortage, CHA Lets Hundreds Of Empty Homes Decay
The Chicago Housing Authority is supposed to provide affordable homes for those in need. But the agency has nearly 500 scattered-site units that are vacant — many causing problems for their neighbors.
