Chicago mayor to delay vote on $2B tax deals for developers
CHICAGO (AP) - Mayor Rahm Emanuel has agreed at the request of Chicago's incoming mayor to delay votes on tax packages worth about $2 billion for a pair of development projects.
Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot said late Sunday that she wants to slow the process to approve the funding deals for the Lincoln Yards and The 78 projects. She says she wants to look at the proposed deals herself when she's officially in office next month. Emanuel said he told Lightfoot that he wouldn't move forward on the projects if she wanted a delay.
Lightfoot has called the process that led to the tax packages "deeply flawed." Critics have said the projects are in prosperous parts of Chicago and developers should pay for infrastructure improvements, not taxpayers. Emanuel defends the tax deals.