By Bill Cameron, WLS- AM News
(CHICAGO) The long-awaited state budget deal gets the schools open on time and provides for six months of essential services, but it also gives Mayor Rahm Emanuel a big extra.
Tucked away in the state budget deal is property tax money for the Chicago Transit Authority. It’s one of those TIFs that Emanuel’s opponents love to condemn because they divert money from schools. When property assessments rise because of a developer’s project, the higher property tax is plowed back into the project.
In this case, Rahm’s getting property taxes for CTA projects.
“For the Red[Line], Purple [Line] modernization stations, taking about a minute off to two minutes off the ride and the second thing is it allows us to start doing the land acquisition and all the extension for the Red Line south,” Emanuel said.
That may extend the Red Line from 95th to perhaps as far south as 130th St.
@ 2016 WLS-AM News
