Mayor asks CTA, CPS, & other agencies to hold line on fares, fees, & taxes

Sun-Times:

The mayor used his annual State of the City address to tackle the issues that have touched a nerve with Chicagoans. They range from higher taxes, youth violence and government corruption to video poker, the Olympics and Chicago parking meters.

“People are upset about a lot of things. They’re worried that they might lose their jobs — or they’ve lost their job or their home or their health insurance. They won’t be able to pay off the student loans or even take a vacation,” Daley said.

“The want to know we can get all we can from every tax dollar and manage government prudently, transparently. They want to know their streets are safe.”

To keep his hand out of taxpayer pockets, Daley urged the Chicago Public Schools, City Colleges, the CTA, CHA and Park District to hold the line on taxes, fees and fare hikes this year and to order their top level executives to join the furlough frenzy.

On the $1.15 billion privatization of Chicago parking meters tied to a steep schedule of rate hikes, Daley said he has instructed his staff to review the 75-year lease to “determine how we can make it work better for the people of Chicago.”

Turning to the controversy surrounding his pledge to make Chicago taxpayers the final back-stop against Olympic losses, Daley said the “low risk to taxpayers” makes it worth the gamble.

One way to insure that CTA won't raise fares in the near future.