Committee on Finance meeting, January 22, 2024
- When: Mon, Jan 22, 2024, 10:00 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/manage/videos/904172934
- Transcript: full text (26,283 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 first held a required subject matter hearing on municipal depositories for the City of Chicago and Chicago Board of Education, hearing from Comptroller Chasse Rehwinkel, Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, the Woodstock Institute, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago and the Chicago Rehab Network on bank lending disparities, community banks, CDFIs, linked deposits and cooperative housing. Members asked about where deposits are held, bank branches and check cashers in their wards, lines of credit, public banking and how deposits translate into neighborhood lending. In the regular meeting the committee approved the December 2023 Rule 45 report, the fiscal year 2024 municipal depository designation, and a substitute ordinance authorizing second-lien wastewater transmission revenue bonds for refunding and sewer projects. It recommended passage of small claims orders and four settlements: $300,000 in Brown v. Bryant, $375,000 in a police vehicle crash case, $2 million in Kirk v. City of Chicago over a fallen lamp pole, and $5 million in a case involving paramedics who mistakenly declared Whitfield Marshall dead, with some members recorded as voting no on three of them.
Topics: municipal depositories, lending equity, community banks, CDFIs, predatory lending, public bank, cooperative housing, sewer revenue bonds, legal settlements, police misconduct settlement
Agenda items discussed
- 7:28 Subject matter hearing on municipal depositories: discussed
- 2:27:26 December 2023 Rule 45 report: passed
- 2:27:58 Designation of municipal depositories for the City of Chicago and Chicago Board of Education for fiscal year 2024: passed
- 2:28:57 Substitute ordinance authorizing second-lien wastewater transmission revenue bonds, Series 2024: passed
- 2:39:41 Order authorizing payment of various small claims: passed
- 2:40:12 Order denying payment of various small claims: passed
- 2:40:30 Department of Law reports of verdicts, judgments and settlements for December 2023
- 2:40:58 Settlement in Brown v. Bryant for $300,000: passed
- 2:48:45 Settlement of police vehicle crash case for $375,000: passed
- 2:52:05 Settlement in Kirk v. City of Chicago for $2,000,000: passed
- 3:01:32 Settlement in Carter, special administrator of the estate of Whitfield Marshall, v. City of Chicago for $5,000,000: passed
Alderpersons who spoke
- Pat Dowell (chair): Opened questions to the treasurer and comptroller before presentations from housing and lending advocates. (35:46); Said that when banks are brought before the committee, members should ask what benefits depositories receive, such as participation in bond deals. (1:12:44); Asked the comptroller to respond to Neighborhood Housing Services' recommendations for city action on CDFIs. (1:44:59)
- William Conway (alderperson): Asked the approximate average daily deposits of the city and Board of Education. (36:33); Asked whether the sewer bonds are secured by sewer revenues, about their credit rating, and why the amount changed in the redline. (2:37:54); Commended the underwriting and legal team and said the fees seemed appropriate. (2:38:48)
- Jeanette B. Taylor (alderperson): Asked for a map of depository bank locations, saying her ward has no bank and many check cashers, and questioned depositing city money with banks that do not lend in her community. (38:18); Raised payday lenders and check cashing businesses and asked about a public bank option. (42:14); Asked how communities would benefit from a public bank and why programs are not working with CHA and HUD to move renters to homeownership. (2:03:52)
- Daniel La Spata (alderperson): Asked how the city uses its leverage from a larger depository pool, noting past legal barriers to setting targets. (50:25); Asked how state linked deposits work and how CDFI partnerships differ from depository participation. (52:21); Described his own experiences with high interest rates and mortgage barriers and said he wants public money to work for public purposes. (55:02)
- William E. Hall (alderperson): Read a list of Black-owned banks and their assets and offered to provide it to the treasurer and comptroller. (56:21)
- Byron Sigcho-López (alderperson): Asked the comptroller about opportunities and challenges of the state's 1983 linked deposit program. (58:31); Asked what depository banks are doing about foreclosed and vacant properties in exchange for city deposits. (1:00:26); Said capital access is nearly impossible for many and called for support for community banks and a public bank option. (1:02:26)
- Ronnie L. Mosley (alderperson): Described bank partnerships in the 21st Ward and asked that United Fidelity Bank be encouraged to join the depository list. (1:04:03); Asked where alderpersons can get help using leverage such as permits or zoning with banks interested in locating branches. (1:06:08)
- Gregory I. Mitchell (alderperson): Asked what benefit banks get from city deposits and how deposits relate to lending in specific neighborhoods. (1:08:08); Said he sees benefit for banks but no tangible benefit in his communities and asked for more information. (1:12:17)
- Jason C. Ervin (alderperson): Asked which large banks provide the city lines of credit and noted that this explains part of the city's relationships with large banks. (1:14:32)
- Andre Vasquez Jr. (alderperson): Asked what values besides return on investment the treasurer prioritizes in choosing depositories and whether a rubric exists. (1:17:23)
- Michael D. Rodriguez (alderperson): Said the lending equity ordinance's transparency produces better outcomes and asked what period the lending data covers. (1:49:33); Asked whether CDFI is a federal designation and how CDFIs are regulated. (1:51:02); Asked about outlier data showing higher denial rates for white applicants in one income band. (1:53:02)
- Matthew J. Martin (alderperson): Asked when the city plans to issue the new money portion of the sewer bonds. (2:34:45); Asked to learn the near-term priorities of the newly filled chief risk officer position. (3:00:01)
Exchanges between members
- 50:07 Dowell asked La Spata whether he remembered advocate Gail Cincotta before recognizing him.
- 1:00:53 Sigcho-López said he was following up on Taylor's question about banks and housing.
- 1:12:44 Dowell said Mitchell's question was fair to ask when banks come before the committee.
- 2:37:00 Dowell added to the answer to Conway's question on how sewer projects are selected.
- 2:57:51 Dowell responded to Taylor's questions on the lamp pole case and encouraged attendance at settlement briefings.
- 3:06:43 Dowell said she concurred with La Spata's remarks on the Marshall settlement.