Chicago’s answer to food deserts has left a trail of debts, lawsuits, ‘can’t pay’ an $800 utility bill – Chicago Sun-Times | Wirepoints (2024)

Over the last four years, first Mayor Lori Lightfoot and now Mayor Brandon Johnson have committed the city’s nearly $2 billion in covid-era revenue to spending that’s now baked into the budget and difficult to unwind. But with federal covid revenues running dry, the city’s operating budget is left with a $1 billion deficit for 2025 and even bigger deficits going forward. Without major spending reforms, he’ll likely have to break his promise to Chicagoans to not raise property taxes.

Wirepoints joined Univision Chicago to discuss the expected $1 billion budget deficit coming to Chicago in 2025. Chicago returns to the same fiscal problems it faced in 2020 before the covid bailouts papered over the city’s problems for a few years. Now the federal covid money has dried up and the deficits have reappeared, exposing the city’s mismanagement of funds.

Ted joined Scott Slocum to talk about the massive billion-dollar deficit facing Chicago next year, the reason why Chicago deserves the title as the nation’s murder capital, why it’s far from racist to talk about the city’s murders, the deficit in leadership among the city’s politicians, and more.

Mark Glennon joined ShaunThompson on AM 560 to discuss the national implications of Trump and Vance working to kill the Chinese-EV-battery-making Gotion project and Shaun also asks about the $1B deficit in the Chicago budget.

Ted joined Chicago Tonight for a discussion on the affordable housing crisis gripping both Chicago and the nation and what to do about it. Ted argued that government created much of the crisis via market distortions and low interest rates, and that throwing more money at the problem via tax credits will only make things worse. The way to fix things is to reduce the costs of PZR: permitting, zoning and regulations.