Chicago’s mayor, Lori Lightfoot, announced Tuesday that the city is facing a historic $1.2 billion budget shortfall for the fiscal year 2021, following what the mayor called a “catastrophic” economic collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic and by widespread rioting and looting that did an estimated $60 million in physical damage to the city’s downtown and untold damage to its tourism industry.
“Saying Chicago faces ‘a crisis unlike anything we have experienced in our lifetimes,’ Mayor Lori Lightfoot painted a grave financial picture for the city on Monday, detailing a projected $1.2 billion budget shortfall in the 2021 fiscal year,” Chicago’s public broadcasting station, WTTW reported.
“On top of that colossal shortfall, the city’s financial picture worsened significantly during the past three months because of an ‘economic catastrophe caused by the coronavirus pandemic,’” Lightfoot said according to the outlet. “The city’s budget for the current fiscal year is now $799 million in the red, she said.”
Lightfoot added that “all options are on the table,” though she refused to get into specifics. In the past, the city has proposed a computer lease tax, a streaming services tax, and a higher restaurant and entertainment tax as stopgap measures for budget shortfalls. This shortfall, though, is so unprecedented, the city is likely to consider more extreme measures, like a property tax hike. – READ MORE
Listen to the insightful Thomas Paine Podcast Below --