City Council Finance Committee Signs Off On Billion Dollars In New Bonds
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago City Council Finance Committee has signed off on Mayor Emanuel's plan to add another billion dollars to the city's debt load, reports WBBM's Nancy Harty.
The city's new chief financial officer Carole Brown heard from some skeptical aldermen faced with the issue of issuing new bonds to pay off old ones.
25th Ward Alderman Danny Solis was among those looking for alternatives.
"Is this a first step?" Solis said. "Is this a critical step? Can we do the financial recovery that we are going to have to be looking at in the future without doing this?"
Brown says the move is critical to the city's financial health by eliminating variable interest rates and moving away what she calls unsustainable practices the city has engaged in for years.
While some aldermen pressed for agreements the city would give the work to minority firms, others wanted more details about a new revenue source to pay off the new bonds.