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Chicago alders weigh $9.5M settlement, parking meter lease and The 78
From a multimillion-dollar wrongful conviction settlement to Chicago's parking meter lease and The 78 development, here's what's on the Finance Committee's agenda Monday.
CHICAGO - Chicago's Finance Committee is set to take up several major issues Monday, including a proposed $9.5 million wrongful conviction settlement, affordable housing funding and infrastructure money for The 78 development.
What we know:
The Chicago City Council's Finance Committee will meet at 10 a.m. at City Hall with a full agenda.
One of the biggest items is a proposed $9.5 million settlement in a federal wrongful conviction lawsuit involving Carl Reed.
Reed spent nearly 19 years in prison after he said Chicago detectives coerced him into giving a false confession in a 2001 murder case. His conviction was later overturned.
If the Finance Committee and the full City Council approve the settlement, the city would resolve the lawsuit without going to trial.
The committee is also expected to vote on millions of dollars in financing for housing projects across the city.
One proposal would help restore the Levy House Apartments in Rogers Park. Another would provide nearly $6 million in tax increment financing, or TIF, for renovations at a housing facility on Chicago's Southeast Side.
The 78 development
Alders will also discuss The 78, a long-planned 62-acre development along the South Branch of the Chicago River.
The project has faced years of delays but could move forward with plans for the Chicago Fire's new soccer stadium, which is expected to help spark additional development.
Committee members will consider two TIF agreements worth more than $424 million.
The funding would pay for public infrastructure, including:
- Streets
- River wall improvements
- Public open space
- Metra track upgrades
- A city-owned parking structure
The soccer stadium itself would be privately financed by the owner of the Chicago Fire.
Ahead of Monday's meeting, a coalition of residents, community members and small business owners from several nearby neighborhoods will hold a 9 a.m. press conference urging alderpersons to delay the vote.
The group said it wants more public discussion and transparency, along with more time for public dollars to be directed toward community needs before the city approves the TIF funding for The 78.
Chicago parking meter ownership transfer
Alders will also consider a proposed transfer of the city's controversial parking meter lease to a new investment company.
City Council members will review a proposal that would allow New York-based investment firm Stonepeak Partners to take over ownership of Chicago's parking meter lease from the current operators.
The parking meter system has been controversial since 2008, when then-Mayor Richard M. Daley approved a more than $1 billion deal to lease Chicago's parking meters to a private company for 75 years. The city used the money to help cover a budget shortfall.
Critics have called the agreement one of the worst financial deals in Chicago's history because private investors recovered their investment in about 15 years and will continue collecting parking meter revenue for another 60 years.
Mayor Brandon Johnson previously explored buying back the parking meter system but later said the cost was too high.
What they're saying:
A group of 15 aldermen raised concerns about Stonepeak after learning the company owns an aviation business that contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of Homeland Security.
The alders sent a letter asking Stonepeak to guarantee that parking meter data will never be shared with ICE or used to track immigrants in Chicago.
What's next:
Any items approved by the Finance Committee would still need approval from the full City Council.
The Source: The information in this story was obtained and reported by FOX Chicago's Se Kwon.