Posted by Hal Dardick at 12:07 p.m.; updated at 3:50 p.m.

Mayor Richard Daley is considering increased taxes on downtown parking and tickets to ballgames and live shows and more red light cameras to catch traffic scofflaws as he tries to balance an out-of-whack city budget.

All of it would raise about $65 million and combined with 1,080 layoffs and leaving 3,000 positions vacant, partly help the mayor close what he contends is a $469 million budget gap this year and next as city revenues continue to plummet.

The administration is hoping to fill the rest of the hole with $150 million from leasing parking meters, $60 million from restructuring debt, not borrowing as much money and taking $20 million a year from the lease of Midway Airport to a private operator, according to aldermen and documents released by City Hall.

"It's an uncomfortable and difficult time everywhere. As the mayor said earlier, he doesn't believe there is anyone in America who hasn't been touched by this crisis, and that includes city government. He has tried to be as just as possible," Daley spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard said.

The city parking tax for those paying $12 and up downtown would increase to $3 from $2.25. The ticket tax for major sporting events would increase to 9 percent from 8 percent. Smaller live music shows would jump to 5 percent from 4 percent.

The latest grim pocketbook news landed a day after the Daley-controlled Chicago Transit Authority announced plans to raise fares and during a year-long span that’s already seen a slew of tax and fee hikes.

The potential parking and amusement tax increases dribbled out of City Hall on a Friday afternoon—traditionally the time to bury bad news—after Daley in the morning announced he’d combine several departments and lay off 240 workers, mostly in management ranks.

Posted by James Kimberly at 5:30 a.m.

West suburban Republican U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam is facing a political newcomer with comparatively little campaign money and no TV presence, yet he is spending money on a new ad blitz in an attempt to tie his foe to unpopular Gov. Rod Blagojevich and convicted political fundraiser Tony Rezko.

A campaign spokesman insists Roskam is not concerned ahead of the Nov. 4 election, just being aggressive.

"We don't take any opponent lightly. Any person who puts their name on the ballot is a credible opponent," spokesman Matt Vriesema said.

Before Democrat Jill Morgenthaler of Des Plaines had the chance to introduce herself to 6th Congressional District voters, Roskam is trying to do it for her.

Posted by Rick Pearson at 9:50 p.m.

Only days after backtracking on questioning Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin's patriotism, Republican challenger Steve Sauerberg reheated the issue Thursday by accusing him of actions that "emboldens the enemy" and "puts our soldiers in danger" in Iraq.

The remarks by Sauerberg, during a debate at Knox College in Galesburg, prompted Durbin to ask "where the bottom is" in his opponent's campaign.

Two days earlier, during a joint appearance at the Tribune's editorial board, Sauerberg said of questioning Durbin's patriotism, "Maybe that's fair. Maybe it's not." Sauerberg also then told Durbin, "I apologize if you're upset with me" and praised the incumbent’s work on behalf of the troops.

But on Thursday night, in the last debate before the Nov. 4 election, Sauerberg told an Illinois Radio Network audience that he was only voicing a frequent concern of voters by questioning Durbin’s patriotism.

Posted by Hal Dardick at 11:25 a.m.

Mayor Richard Daley vowed Thursday to identify, discipline and fire city garbage workers caught loafing on the job.

"These are great jobs. No one should be loafing, drinking, smoking, quitting early or anything else. . . . If you don't want the job, just quit,” the mayor said after a news conference on property tax bills.

"We are going to identify these individuals. We are going to discipline and fire them,” he added.

The tough comments, typical for Daley after embarrassing news breaks, came after an Inspector General’s report released Wednesday blasted garbage workers for loafing in what was characterized as “systemic, pervasive” waste and fraud. The office spied on 77 garbage truck drivers and 145 laborers in 10 wards before drawing its conclusions.

Posted by Hal Dardick at 11:15 a.m.

As many city homeowners complain about their new, higher property tax bills, Mayor Richard Daley on Thursday called on state lawmakers to increase and make permanent breaks designed to soften the effect of rising home values.

In Chicago, those property tax exemptions are being phased out and are set to expire in 2010 unless the General Assembly renews them.

The mayor also called on Cook County Assessor James Houlihan to make sure assessments set to be done in the city next year reflect dropping home values. The last assessments were done in 2006, when housing values were still rising.

Posted by Tribune staff at 5:30 a.m.

With many city homeowners complaining about their new, higher property tax bills, Mayor Richard Daley will try to get out in front of the issue today by calling on other politicians to do something about it.

The mayor is scheduled for a morning news conference at a South Side field house to suggest that the county assessor and state lawmakers “provide relief for property owners,” according to a press release.

Daley frequently has issued such calls in the past, most notably during last year’s impasse between Cook County Assessor James Houlihan and House Speaker Micheal Madigan over legislation to cushion the property tax blow for county homeowners.

Houlihan argued for greater tax relief while Madigan wanted a more restrained approach. After arguing for the better part of a year, Madigan came out on top as the version that’s now law phases down the tax relief over three years. Earlier this week, Houlihan sought to blame Madigan for the size of the tax bills that hit mailboxes.

At any rate, tax bills are out, payments are due and lawmakers won’t be back in Springfield until after the Nov. 4 election, even if they want to take up the complicated issue.

Daley raised the city’s property tax by $86 million last year, the largest such hike of his tenure. But that increase won’t show up on tax bills until next year.

The mayor also can expect to face questions about an inspector general’s report that blasted city garbage workers for loafing in what was characterized as “systemic, pervasive” waste and fraud. The office spied on 77 garbage truck drivers and 145 laborers in 10 wards before drawing its conclusions.

Michael Picardi, head of the Streets and Sanitation Department, said he would cooperate with the inspector general and warned that “ward superintendents are going to be held accountable for this.”

Posted by Susan Kuczka at 7:50 p.m.

Republican congressional candidate Steve Greenberg criticized President Bush and the previous GOP-controlled Congress on government spending Wednesday in trying to portray himself as an outsider challenging two-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean of Barrington.

In the first face-to-face meeting of the 8th Congressional District candidates, Greenberg and Bean each told the Tribune's editorial board the fiscal habits of Washington need to be reformed to help gain the confidence of the public.

"The only thing they agree on is growing the government by 40 percent and George Bush has massively failed us on top of that," Greenberg, a businessman from Long Grove, said of Republicans and Democrats in Congress.

Posted by Dan Mihalopoulos at 4:50 p.m.

The Chicago City Council on Wednesday put off a final vote on an ordinance that would prevent the Daley administration from collecting real estate sales taxes on homes that change hands due to divorces.

In what was a rare case of aldermen defying Mayor Richard Daley, the Burke-led Finance Committee gave preliminary approval Monday to the exemption for primary marital residences that are transferred between separating spouses.

But Burke delayed a final vote Wednesday, saying he wants to know exactly how much revenue would be lost. In an interview after Wednesday's council meeting, he cast doubt on figures from Revenue Department officials.

Posted by Dan Mihalopoulos at 3:30 p.m.

Chicago aldermen voted Wednesday to make it illegal to text while driving.

The new restriction, which also would cover using wireless devices to browse the Internet, builds on the 2005 rule against talking on hand-held cell phones while driving. Violators could face a $75 fine, with the penalty rising to as much as $200 if the violation "occurs at the time of a traffic accident."

The proposal's sponsor, Ald. Edward Burke (14th), described several fatal incidents involving drivers who were sending text messages.

"The distraction caused by text messaging was further underscored just several weeks ago when it was reported that the engineer of the commuter train that collided with a freight train in Los Angeles, killing 25 people and injuring more than 130, was actually sending text messages on his cell phone seconds before the crash," Burke told aldermen before the vote.

Chicago would be the largest U.S. city to implement such a ban and would join 10 states that have already enacted similar restrictions. It will take effect next month.

Posted by Tribune staff

Property tax bills hit mailboxes throughout Cook County the last few days. Cook County Assessor James Houlihan's office has put together a list of the estimated median tax bills in each suburban town and city neighborhood and whether they are an increase or a decrease. We're posting the lists in full here:

City: Download ChicagoNeighborhood2007TaxEstimates.pdf

Suburbs: Download suburban2007tax_estimates.pdf

Posted by Dan Mihalopoulos at 1:25 p.m.

By a 49-0 vote, the Chicago City Council approved a $2.5 billion, 99-year lease of Midway Airport to a private operator.

Aides to Mayor Richard Daley expect to close the transaction by year's end. The deal, which now awaits final federal approval, would mark the first time that a major U.S. airport would be run by a private company.

The Daley administration has not yet announced how it would spend the $1 billion the lease would yield after airport debt is repaid. Many aldermen hailed the money that they hope to get for public works projects in their wards.

Ald. Richard Mell said he wanted a library for his 33rd Ward on the North Side. Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) used the debate on the Midway lease to renew her calls for a high school for her West Side constituents.

Updated by Hal Dardick at 4:30 p.m.

A top city official in charge of garbage collection said today he is "disgusted" by an inspector general report alleging widespread loafing by garbage truck crews.

Michael Picardi, head of the Streets and Sanitation Department, said he would cooperate with the inspector general and may punish union workers who violated work rules as well as non-union supervisors who ignored the alleged loafing.

"The ward superintendents are going to be held accountable for this," Picardi said at an afternoon news conference hours after the report by Inspector General David Hoffman was released.

Between May and September, IG investigators spied on 77 garbage truck drivers and 145 laborers in 10 wards. They reported what they called "systemic, pervasive" waste and fraud.

The report placed much of the blame on non-union supervisors in Streets and Sanitation, and union leaders were quick to do the same.

Picardi emphasized the report documented problems with several hundred employees in a department with 3,000 workers.

"I'm not taking what has happened here lightly. I am disgusted by it."

The report did not identify individuals or the 10 wards where inspectors followed crews and Picardi said he didn't have those details. But he said his message for those in the report was "you should worry about your jobs."

Posted by Dan Mihalopoulos at 10 a.m.

Workers on Chicago’s garbage pick-up crews spend about two hours a day loafing on the clock, according to a report released today by the city’s inspector general.

Between May and September, investigators for Inspector General David Hoffman spied on 77 garbage truck drivers and 145 laborers in 10 wards. They reported what they called "systemic, pervasive" waste and fraud.

In 10 weeks of surveillance, they "did not see a single laborer doing a full day's work," according to the report.

"The investigators found a remarkably consistent pattern throughout all the wards," the report said. "Although the crews were well paid to work 8 full hours a day, on average they only worked less than six hours a day."

Assuming the same work habits by employees throughout the city, the report calculates that loafing on city garbage crews costs $14.3 million a year in lost wages. Add in worker benefits and equipment, and the loss grows to more than $20 million.

The negative attention could not come at a worse time for Streets and Sanitation Department employees. Facing a massive budget deficit, Mayor Richard Daley has warned that he may have no choice but to lay off more than 1,000 city workers, with 302 laborers targeted for dismissal.

You can read the full Inspector General report here:

Download ig_report_re_bureau_of_sanitation_10.7.08.pdf

Posted by Rick Pearson at 7:40 p.m.

Republican U.S. Senate challenger Steve Sauerberg backtracked Tuesday from questioning Sen. Dick Durbin’s patriotism after the Democrat emotionally accused his rival of employing “the lowest form of politics.”

In an hour long meeting with the Tribune editorial board, Sauerberg, a family practice physician from suburban Willowbrook, backed off frequently from criticisms he and his campaign have raised against the two-term Illinois Democrat regarding Durbin’s comments and votes on military matters.

The criticism by the Republican, seeking his first elected office, was prompted by a June 2005 speech in which Durbin said an FBI report on the treatment of prisoners by Americans at Guantanamo Bay could be likened to the “Nazis, Soviets in their gulags” or the regime of Cambodian despot Pol Pot. Durbin apologized for those remarks days later, saying no “disrespect” for the U.S. military was intended.

“OK, I questioned (Durbin’s patriotism). And maybe that’s fair. Maybe it’s not,” Sauerberg said. He said Durbin’s comments and other actions are raised by the public along the campaign trail and “undermine our troops, their ability to fight, our nation’s credibility in the world.”

“I’m going to question a lot of things about my opponent, his positions,” Durbin shot back at Sauerberg, his voice filling with emotion. “I would never question your patriotism. I think that is the refuge of scoundrels. I think what you have done here, to raise a question as to whether I love this country is the lowest form of politics. The lowest.”

Posted by Monique Garcia at 4:55 p.m.

During his years in the legislature, Senate President Emil Jones has funneled millions of dollars in pork projects to his beloved Chicago State University. On Tuesday, the school returned the affection with a lavish ribbon-cutting ceremony at a campus building that now bears his name.

The retiring Jones (D-Chicago) was hailed as nothing short of a hero by those in attendance, from Gov. Rod Blagojevich to interim university president Frank Pogue, who praised Jones for always fighting for South Side interests.

Jones said he was inspired to use his influence to benefit the university by observing how legislators in Springfield banded together to pass projects for other state schools. He blasted news accounts that questioned his motives and said his actions were an attempt at "parity" and "fairness."

"We learned a lot in Springfield, when they slice the pie," Jones said of the budget process. "It's nice to be in the room when you slice the pie. And [sometimes] I get criticized for making sure that a piece of that pie comes back home here, but that's your job as a lawmaker. To look out for your district, to look out for the young people that attend these institutions."

Jones made his remarks in front on the university's convocation center, which is named after him and his late wife, Patricia. The center opened in the fall of 2007 and cost $47 million in state money, which Jones helped secure.

Posted by James Kimberly at 4:40 p.m.

Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential candidate, is coming to DuPage County to help U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam raise campaign cash in advance of the Nov. 4 election.

According to an invite mailed to potential donors, Romney will come appear at a $1,000-per-plate private dinner at the Oak Brook Marriott on Oct. 21. The Roskam campaign is hoping the event will raise $100,000.

Posted by Dan Mihalopoulos at 2:44 p.m.

After airing a long list of concerns, a City Council panel today unanimously approved the $2.52 billion, 99-year lease of Midway Airport to a private operator.

The decision, reached at a joint session of the council’s Finance and Aviation Committees, sets the agreement up for a final vote of the full council at Wednesday's meeting.

Last week Mayor Richard Daley announced that his administration had accepted a lease bid for Midway from a consortium formed by Vancouver Airport Services Ltd., New York-based Citi Infrastructure Investors and Boston's John Hancock Life Insurance Co.

In the second day of their City Hall hearing on the proposal, some aldermen noted that the new airport operating company does not include any minority investors.

Other aldermen said the lease should stipulate that locally based business have preference as the private operators carry out their promise to expand concessions at Midway.

In the end, though, the deal received committee approval without any changes.

Posted by Monique Garcia at 1:06 p.m.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich tried to deflect questions Tuesday about talks between convicted fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko and federal authorities probing corruption allegations involving his administration.

Out in public for the first time since news of his convicted former top fundraiser and adviser's negotiations to possibly become a prosecution witness broke, Blagojevich said Rezko's decision to seek a sentencing delay "speaks for itself."

"It is what it is, it speaks for itself," Blagojevich said. "Let me just say again what I've said before, Tony Rezko is a friend of mine, my heart goes out to him and to his family and he like everybody else should tell the truth. And I would point out he sent a letter, Tony Rezko sent a letter to a federal judge where he expressly said that neither Sen. Obama nor I did anything wrong and now we've got to respect the process as we've been consistently doing and just let it all unfold…"

Posted by James Kimberly at 9:30 p.m.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Foster on Monday defended his vote for the $700 billion bailout package against criticism from Republican opponent Jim Oberweis, who said it would have dire long-term consequences for the nation’s economy.

Foster and Oberweis debated the bailout during a joint appearance before the Tribune’s editorial board as the Dow Jones industrial average closed below 10,000 for the first time since 2004.

“We are facing probably the greatest economic danger since the Great Depression,” said Foster, a former Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory physicist. “It is something that is affecting us all. It is not only Wall Street.”

Foster said the legislation was not perfect, but was necessary given the dire financial straits.

But Oberweis, who has made millions of dollars as an investment manager, said the bailout would “hurt the growth of our economy for many years to come.”

Posted by Dan Mihalopoulos at 9:15 p.m.

In a rare case of aldermen defying Mayor Richard Daley, a City Council panel voted today to approve an ordinance that would prevent the city from collecting real estate transfer taxes when properties change hands in a divorce.

The City Council’s Finance Committee unanimously passed the measure, which was introduced by the panel’s chairman, Ald. Edward Burke (14th). The full council could give the ordinance final approval Wednesday.

The commissioner of Daley’s Revenue Department, Bea Reyna-Hickey, had urged the committee to reject the proposal.

She told aldermen the cash-strapped city collects about $1.5 million a year from real estate transfers that occur as part of divorce settlements. Reyna-Hickey said the Chicago Transit Authority reaps another $600,000 from such cases.

But some aldermen said the Revenue Department shouldn’t try to squeeze money from people at one of their lowest moments in life. “You have no conscience,” Ald. Bernard Stone (50th) told Reyna-Hickey. “It’s wrong, wrong, wrong.”

“I think the Revenue Department is misconstruing the spirit of the law,” Burke said after the committee vote.

At $10.50 for every $1,000 of a property’s sale price, Chicago has the highest real estate transfer tax in the state, according to the Chicago Association of Realtors.

The transfer tax generated more than $200 million for the city’s corporate fund last year, but revenues have plummeted this year because of the weak housing market. That drop is a major reason why Chicago faces a $420 million budget deficit.

Reyna-Hickey said  many major U.S. cities and Chicago suburbs including Schaumburg, Evanston and Elmhurst collect in cases of divorce settlements, which Chicago has done since November 2005.

Posted by Rick Pearson at 9:08 p.m.

Sen. Dick Durbin and Republican Steve Sauerberg clashed over the nation’s health care crisis Monday, with the Democratic incumbent accusing the family practice physician of proposing an end to government-backed insurance for the poor and elderly in favor of a program using tax credits to purchase private insurance.

“I don’t know of another doctor who is so bold as to believe that those people who count on these programs are somehow going to be protected in the market by themselves,” said Durbin, who favors a large-scale expansion of taxpayer-subsidized health care coverage.

But Sauerberg said Durbin misunderstood his proposal, which the Republican said would expand the availability of health care coverage and make it portable and less job-dependent. “You can buy it. You can use vouchers. The government already pays for many, many peoples’ insurance,” Sauerberg said.