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Emanuel Budget Cruises Toward Passage

By Ted Cox | November 12, 2012 4:01pm
 Mayor Rahm Emanuel said his 2013 budget has "the right priorities" as it headed for passage next week.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said his 2013 budget has "the right priorities" as it headed for passage next week.
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DNAinfo/Ted Cox

CHICAGO — The City Council steered Mayor Rahm Emanuel's balanced, $8.3 billion 2013 budget toward passage next week at a special meeting Thursday.

Saying it has "the right priorities," is on "the right course" and that it displays "the right way to handle the choices that we have to make," Emanuel thanked the council for its brisk movement on the budget.

The mayor said the budget doesn't include new taxes or fees, "and yet makes critical investments in the areas of public safety, our children, our neighborhood services, and also reinforces our investments in small businesses."

He added that the budget "honors the taxpayers by making sure government is working for them, rather than them working harder for the government."

 Ald. Carrie Austin, chairman of the budget committee, warned "There are always bumps in the road."
Ald. Carrie Austin, chairman of the budget committee, warned "There are always bumps in the road."
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DNAinfo/Ted Cox

Emanuel boasted that the balanced executive budget he proposed last month adds 457 police recruits, bolsters early childhood and after-school programs and has faced relatively few amendments.

"There have been years when we had to fight," said Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), chairman of the budget committee. "There've been years when it is smooth. There've been years when it's bumpy as hell."

She added that "at this point" things are running smoothly with no major battles in sight. But she warned, "There are always bumps in the road."

The budget sailed through formalities by a 47-0 vote and was scheduled to be adopted at a meeting Thursday. Emanuel's first budget a year ago closed a $636 million deficit and passed by a unanimous 50-0 vote after sometimes contentious hearings. Austin said this year was a calm one, with the city closing a $369 million deficit, but that pension obligations coming due in 2014 and 2015 figured to make the process "a baptism by fire" next year.

The council also terminated several tax increment financing districts and repealed the Lakeside/Clarendon TIF district.