>> The total cost of defending and resolving lawsuits naming disgraced former Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara now stands at nearly 473 million dollars.

That's according to Awt Tw News analysis.

The City Council voted unanimously to settle 16 lawsuits today by paying nearly 261 million dollars.

>> Today marks another historic step towards justice for 17 individuals who spent a combined 383 years in custody as a result of wrongful convictions.

And while we can never undo the harm or give them back the years that they lost, I'm proud of.

My administration that we can provide some measure of restitution and help these individuals move forward.

Our work is unfinished and my administration remains committed to addressing misconduct responsibly, bringing justice to those harmed while protecting Chicago taxpayers from continuing to bear the costs of past misconduct.

>> Our Heather Sharon joins us now from City Hall with more.

So Heather, remind us who former detective Llevara is and what these lawsuits accused him of doing.

>> Well, starting in the 1980's detective Guevara was assigned to investigate crimes and murders in Humboldt Park and until his retirement in 2005, he investigated hundreds of of murders and other crimes and has been repeatedly accused of fabricating evidence, coercing confessions and witnesses or hating evidence.

Now he has taken the 5th Amendment in many of these cases hundreds of times.

So lawyers for the city told the City council that they have very little hope of prevailing trial and this massive settlement, what actually saved the city, a significant amount of money that didn't make this vote any easier from some older people.

But as you heard, mayor say, many are hopeful.

This is the start of putting this chapter in Chicago Police Department history behind the city.

>> And before today, the city had resolved 16 lawsuits.

Naming are how many more lawsuits are pending.

>> There are still 25 federal lawsuits naming Guevara and the other officers he worked alongside for decades.

I asked the mayor after the city council meeting whether Chicago in should expect to pay a similar amount to resolve those lawsuits.

And he said that he really couldn't speculate.

Now, 2 of those lawsuit has been resolved with settlements that still need to be approved by the Chicago City Council.

We expect that to happen in the coming months.

But there is no doubt that the financial toll of Ronaldo Guevara is alleged misconduct has yet to be fully understood.

It.

>> Yeah, A significant hit to the city there.

So that mask settlement past without any debate.

But today's meeting did feature a pretty tense back and forth over a plan to make it harder for the city to borrow money.

Let's listen to some of that.

>> This is due to city has never been caught.

The black and Latino communities now fast forward.

This council.

Is as diverse he's ever been.

Well, guess who's the 14?

>> There's this fallacy being pushed around that.

A three-fifths majority.

Well, somehow paralyze any new infrastructure development in this city.

And that's absolutely incorrect.

And Heather, just briefly, what happened there?

>> Well, the mayor vetoed an ordinance that would have required 30 votes from the city Council instead of a simple majority of 26 votes and that the tow was not overridden, but by the slimmest possible margin.

Just one vote signaling again that this is a city council that does not see itself as a stamp and has big questions about how Mayor Johnson is handling the city's finances.

And its massive debt burden.

>> All right, Heather Sharon from City Hall, thanks very