CITY HALL — The mayor defended his controversial new fee for garbage collection Thursday by basically suggesting that if some Chicagoans are paying for trash pickup all should, and calling property taxes "the last resort."
Asked why he proposed the fee rather than simply raise his demand for a $600 million property-tax increase, Mayor Rahm Emanuel cited how residents in larger apartment complexes and condos are already paying up to $16 a month for the service. He said his proposal for a $9.50-a-month fee for trash pickup for houses and apartments up to four-flats was "below what other people pay in the city, below what they pay in Berwyn and other suburbs."
Emanuel referred to the garbage fees as "reforms," contrasting that with property taxes by saying, "I think they're different." He called property taxes "the last resort, not the first," suggesting that any other revenue source was preferred to minimize the tax hike.
"We have an obligation to right the financial ship for the City of Chicago," Emanuel said. He again threatened that, without increased revenue to make pension funds solvent, the city would be forced to cut 2,500 police positions, 2,000 firefighters, cut garbage collection in half and slash spending on potholes, recycling, graffiti removal, tree trimming and rat abatement.
Aldermen have threatened to propose other sources of revenue instead, and Emanuel encouraged them to do so, saying, "The other aldermen may offer their ideas. I've offered my way and my approach."
Meanwhile, after Thursday's city council meeting, Emanuel said that he'd be "fully supportive" of aldermen who back his budget plan, adding that he'd help insulate them from potential political backlash.
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