Rahm rules out property tax hike

Posted: 24 Feb 2011 12:07 AM PST

Rahm rules out property tax hike

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter Feb 24, 2011 04:54AM

Mayor-Elect Rahm Emanuel holds his first formal press conference Wednesday, February 23, 2011, at the Union League Club. | Jean Lachat~Sun-Times

Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday ruled out a property tax increase of any size, declared an end to the days of the rubber-stamp City Council and solicited ideas — even from aldermen who opposed him — on ways to solve the city's financial crisis.

Emanuel rocked the boat with his pre-election threat to re-organize the City Council — and strip Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) of his police bodyguards and, possibly, his Finance Committee chairmanship.

But, Emanuel's first news conference as Chicago's mayor-elect offered Emanuel the chance to change the subject from "personalities or individuals" to the partnership he hopes and needs to forge with the City Council to close a $1 billion-a-year structural deficit.

"They cannot be a rubber stamp. That's unacceptable. The challenges are too big. They can't be what they were in the last few years. They don't want it. The city doesn't want it. ... I was a former legislator. I don't want it," Emanuel told reporters at the Union League Club.

"The city also knows that we paid a price for Council Wars as a city. Those two extremes — rubber stamp, Council Wars — [are] unacceptable. I ask them to be the partners in reform. ... If they have ideas on how to save money, walk it right up to my office. If they have a change they want to make that brings more efficiency, more transparency, let's go. ... I am open to different roads to take to the objective I've set out."

Emanuel also issued an open call to Chicagoans interested in joining his new government.

"If you ever thought of public service as part of your life, sharpen your resume. I want people ... with a level of experience and background from the private sector, from academia, from our foundations and charities to be part of city government. This is a unique time in our city's future. It's a chance to make a new, fresh start. And that means bringing in talent and energy that we usually don't see in public service," he said.

Emanuel's pledge not to entertain a property tax increase of any size came in response to a question about how he planned to solve the city's pension crisis.

A bill approved by the Illinois General Assembly over Mayor Daley's objections would saddle homeowners and businesses with a $550 million property tax increase in 2015 unless pension concessions are negotiated or another new revenue source is found.

During the campaign, Emanuel ruled out raising property taxes that much, which would amount to a 90 percent increase. On Wednesday, he was asked whether he would entertain a property tax increase of any size. His answer was an emphatic no.

"I'm not looking at a property tax increase," he said.

Emanuel has already rankled union leaders by suggesting cuts in the benefits of existing employees. On Wednesday, he threw an olive branch to the unions by declaring his unqualified support for "defined benefit pensions." That means he has no plans to switch to the 401(k) plans favored by private industry.

On other matters, the mayor-elect:

■ Declared his intention to get involved in some of the 14 aldermanic runoffs to re-shape the new City Council to his liking.

■ Said he has no agenda for the Legislature's spring session, noting that Chicago has "one mayor at a time" and that mayor is Richard M. Daley until May 16.

■ Reaffirmed his commitment to dump Police Supt. Jody Weis, who has been on a one-man public relations campaign to save his job by revealing the steady decline in homicides and other crime.

"We have gone through a period of time where our superintendent and the Police Department have been back and forth with each other. Yes, the results show a reduction in crime. But, we still have a murder rate on a per-capita basis in parts of the city double that in New York. We have made progress, but not progress enough. ... The statistics are true. The quality of life is not," he said.

"I have nothing personally against the superintendent. Nothing. But, [during] a time in which we've added nine to ten significant positions in the central bureaucracy, we have not added a single beat officer. ... I do not believe you beat crime through bureaucracy. You beat it with the beat officer. ... I will look for a superintendent who shares that philosophy."

Emanuel said he would look for somebody who has the "trust and confidence" of the rank-and-file, but he made no firm commitment to choosing an insider to replace Weis, a career FBI agent who was the first outsider in more than 40 years to serve as Chicago Police superintendent.

■ Promised to move "with a quick step" to establish his transition team and order an audit more extensive than the annual review conducted by a major accounting firm. The new audit would be aimed at pinpointing the $75 million in cuts he has promised to make to Daley's final budget. It will also help determine what areas of contracting the city is exceeding its minority set-aside goals and where it is falling short.

■ Said Interim Schools CEO Terry Mazany would be considered for the permanent job, but he's looking at other candidates as well.

■ Disclosed that he got congratulatory phone calls from former President Bill Clinton, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gov. Quinn and a host of other high-ranking elected officials in addition to the previously-disclosed calls from President Obama and Mayor Daley.

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