Committee on Finance meeting, April 17, 2024
- When: Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 9:15 AM (Chicago time)
- Where: City Council Chamber, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street - Chicago, IL 60602
- Status: Reconvened
- Committee: Committee on Finance
- Video: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/935156142
- Transcript: full text (3,353 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 reconvened from its April 15, 2024 recess to consider a single item: a substitute ordinance authorizing general obligation and/or securitization corporation bonds for housing and economic development programs. Members questioned city officials about whether the fund allocation criteria are codified, a list of financial managers by dollar amount, and how the ordinance's $285 million annual levy cap relates to planned issuance of about $250 million per year. Alderperson Brendan Reilly proposed an amendment lowering a $5 million threshold to $1 million to increase aldermanic oversight of expenditures; a motion to table that amendment was approved on a roll call announced as 16 yeses to 12 noes. The committee then recommended passage of the substitute ordinance by a roll call vote announced as 20 to 9.
Topics: housing and economic development bonds, general obligation bonds, property tax levy, aldermanic oversight, fund allocation criteria
Agenda items discussed
- 25:54 Substitute ordinance concerning issuance of general obligation and/or securitization corporation bonds for housing and economic development programs: passed
- 33:54 Reilly amendment to lower the project threshold for aldermanic oversight from $5 million to $1 million (motion to table): failed
Alderpersons who spoke
- Pat Dowell (chair): Introduced the bond substitute ordinance, noting no changes from the version considered at the recess meeting and that city finance, law and housing officials were present. (25:54); Responded to Alderperson David H. Moore that city programs are generally not codified in ordinance but the council can evaluate whether criteria are met through quarterly reports from departments. (28:32)
- David H. Moore (alderperson): Asked for a document showing dollar amounts for the managers on the bond deal, in addition to the names and percentages provided. (26:51); Asked whether the ordinance requires the fund allocation criteria to be followed, noting that uncodified criteria could be changed. (27:18); Said that if the criteria are only posted publicly and not codified, it gives the council no standing if they change. (28:09)
- William Conway (alderperson): Asked how the $285 million annual levy limit in section 2.11 interacts with the amount of bond issuance. (29:39); Asked whether anything in the ordinance limits the amount of bonds issued per year, given the stated intent of $250 million a year over five years. (31:57)
- Brendan Reilly (alderperson): Proposed amending the ordinance to replace $5 million with $1 million so that projects in the $1 to $5 million range would be subject to aldermanic oversight, saying the council has a duty to oversee these expenditures. (33:57)
Exchanges between members
- 28:09 Alderperson David H. Moore asked the chair, as someone who has worked in development, whether she understood his concern about uncodified criteria.
- 28:32 The chair answered Alderperson David H. Moore that the council can review criteria compliance through quarterly reports.
- 33:13 Vice Chair William Conway thanked the chair after his questions.