Committee on Finance meeting, February 7, 2025
- When: Fri, Feb 7, 2025, 11:00 AM (Chicago time)
- Where: City Council Chamber, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street - Chicago, IL 60602
- Status: Scheduled & Published
- Committee: Committee on Finance
- Video: https://vimeo.com/1053826636
- Transcript: full text (17,452 words, official captions)
Meeting notes
AI-written from the transcript. Speakers are inferred from cues in the recording, so treat names as estimates and check the video at the linked time.
The Committee on Finance held a required subject matter hearing on the city's prospective municipal depositories, with no votes taken on the matter. The acting comptroller reported that 16 banking institutions responded to the 2025 request for proposals, and the City Treasurer described collaboration with the Department of Finance and the need to make the process easier for small and mid-size banks. Representatives of Woodstock Institute, Neighborhood Housing Services, the Chicago Rehab Network and the Illinois Bankers Association presented lending data and recommendations, including racial disparities in home improvement loan denials, support for community development financial institutions, and streamlining the application. Members asked about changes to the depository list, interest earned on deposits, lending patterns, possible federal changes to fair lending enforcement, and how the city could encourage investment in underserved neighborhoods. The chair said the depository ordinance would go before the committee at its next meeting.
Topics: municipal depositories, Lending Equity Ordinance, mortgage lending disparities, community development financial institutions, small banks, Community Reinvestment Act, home improvement loans, public comment
Agenda items discussed
- 20:21 Motion to allow members to participate remotely under Rule 59: passed
- 18:17 Subject matter hearing on municipal depositories under Section 2-32-400 of the Municipal Code: discussed
Alderpersons who spoke
- Pat Dowell (chair): Explained that the hearing on municipal depositories is required before the council approves them and that no votes would be taken. (18:17); Asked whether bank investment in community development financial institutions is a specific question on the application. (1:44:15); Asked whether lower-performing institutions are told how to improve before the council approves the list. (1:47:45)
- Brian Hopkins (alderperson): Asked that the city disclose which banks dropped off the depository list, which are new and which are renewals. (41:26)
- William Conway (alderperson): Asked how much interest the city earns on its deposits. (42:26); Said the interest earned should be a criterion in choosing depository banks given the city's finances. (43:39)
- Daniel La Spata (alderperson): Credited the ordinance requiring banks to provide lending data and asked whether a comparative analysis would be presented. (45:03); Asked why Liberty Bank, which he understood to be in his ward, was not selected; staff clarified it was a different Liberty Bank. (46:07); Said it is encouraging that many applicant banks maintain their equity commitments and asked whether data show the quality of mortgage products offered in low-income and minority communities. (1:23:43)
- Byron Sigcho-López (alderperson): Asked what effects federal policy changes on diversity, equity and inclusion could have in the banking industry and on access to capital. (1:53:50); Asked what city policies could encourage partnerships with community development financial institutions on homeownership and mentioned support for a public lending option. (2:01:31)