>> And thanks for joining us on Chicago tonight.

I'm Brandis Friedman.

Here's what we're looking at.

>> We're taking a step forward to invest in people.

>> Johnson's plan to borrow 830 million dollars to fund infrastructure projects is under fire.

Chicago CFO joins us to discuss the plan.

our Spotlight.

Politics team on plans to rid the Chicago Police Department of officers with extremist times.

>> The unique thing about Chicago is that always had a great it the news.

>> And remembering legendary soul singer Jerry Iceman Butler.

>> And now to some of today's top stories.

A close call at Midway Airport today when a Southwest jet Verily missed a private jet that entered runway without authorization.

>> The airline says the crew of South Southwest flight.

25 0, 4, performed a bow around to prevent potential impacts just before 9 this morning.

You can see video here from stream time live shows the plane touching down.

Then immediately climbing back up into the air.

A second later.

>> Just as that smaller Bombardier challenger, 3.50, enters its path.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.

>> Suburban Chicago mother told jurors how she hid in her locked bathroom and called 9-1-1 after her landlord brutally attacked her and her son.

She said that in a murder trial for her 73 year-old landlord, Joseph Xu by is charged with several crimes, including hate crimes for the stabbing death of 6 year-old white guy out for you.

Me.

Hundreds attended his genna's out or funeral service seen here.

Prosecutors say the man became increasingly paranoid in the days after the war that erupted between Israel and Hamas in early October 2023. and targeted the boy and his mother because of their Islamic faith.

The child was stabbed.

26 times his mother, a non Shaheen, was also wounded and spent weeks recovering.

Schubas attorney has declined to comment until the end of trial, which is expected to last about a week.

South suburban Dolton voters are casting primary ballots today, including embroiled Mayor Tiffany Henyard who argues she wasn't given the chance to do her job early on.

I think that I was.

But from the go.

>> I came 2021 when I came 2021, faced with a week off.

So every year it was something else that I can off the bank account and then the next year or so minutes.

So you never gain out.

22 continue to govern.

And I want the opportunity to government.

I think the time is now.

>> When asked what she would have done differently, Henyard says she would have, quote, told on the trustees sooner the mayor is looking to keep her seat after an investigation last month accused her of consistent mismanagement, village finances and systematic attempts to hide the village is true.

Financial condition.

That report was completed by former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot at the request of Dolton village trustees.

Can your does facing village trustee, Jason House in today's primary?

Coming up, we dig into Mayor Johnson's borrowing plan that's getting some pushback at City Hall.

The city's chief financial officer joins us next.

>> Chicago tonight is made possible in part by the Alexander and John Nichols family.

The gym and K maybe family.

The Pope Brothers Foundation.

And the support of these donors.

>> There's fierce debate and city Council over Mayor Brandon Johnson's proposal to borrow 830 million dollars for infrastructure improvements.

Opponents say the plan lacks fiscal responsibility after receiving a credit downgrade.

While supporters say it's the only way to complete already planned projects.

Here's some of what was said at last week's council meeting.

>> It is.

Downright ludicrous for us to borrow an additional 830 million dollars with this proposed debt structures when our financial challenges are so evidence investment vital.

But the proposed debt structure is fiscal insanity and not normal.

>> What was his conversation with Skyway was so.

Where was this conversation when the parking meters with so what was just pop states?

But now when it's time for the south and West side to see stuff in this bond issue, oldest pump the brakes.

>> And joining us to Chicago's chief Financial Officer Joe Jaworski.

Thank you for joining us.

the infrastructure needs, what are the infrastructure needs that this would be paying for?

>> So general obligation, bond issue is going to find what we consider sort typical infrastructure for the city.

It's going to find street repairs, sidewalks, bridges, there's 100 million dollars is going to going to lead service line replacement, which really important responsibility that the city has to take on.

It also is going to do some work on certain buildings and it's going to provide funding for some of our fleet as well.

>> Now we know the city just completed a very challenging budget process where you will have to close in 982.4 million dollar deficit.

Is this the time to increase then the city's debt?

So the city issues every single year to fund these infrastructure investments and one of the reasons that we find them with fines as opposed to just using what makes me like a pay as you go money.

>> Meaning any additional money that we're taxing for and providing directly in infrastructure is that these type investments?

They have a value that is carries over for many, many years.

And so when you borrow money over an extended time period, a 30 year time period or so and you're investing in projects that themselves last 4 decades.

You're you're you're you're carrying that cross over now.

Multiple generations, in essence, as opposed to paying for it all today.

So if we took inside what we're going to do, 800 million in infrastructure investments today and we didn't borrow for it.

The current tax payers, we have a very heavy burden.

Even a future taxpayers would be enjoying the benefit it.

So this is standard practice and the city every year is borrowing money and investing in infrastructure.

As is the state and really every other government agency around us.

This is standard procedure.

You're saying spreading out the cost, of course, over over years, over the life of whatever the projects that would funded under that von.

Yes, exactly summer to making.

And if you make a major investment by buying a home.

>> Most people finance at over 30 years.

One of the concerns that we're hearing is the repayment schedule.

The city won't be making payments on the principle for the first 20 years.

Critics are calling this, quote, back loaded projecting that it's going to add an additional 2 billion dollars in additional costs, which you say, though, that's inaccurate.

Yes, I mean that statement alone that's going add an extra 2 billion dollars is not accurate.

The entire structure itself.

There's 803 men of principle, the illustrated, the luster to structure that we show to alderman, which was a back on structure had about one point 2 billion dollars in interest.

So we can't be creating an additional 2 million in costs when, in fact, the interest is only 1.2 billion.

So that's an exaggeration that has gotten a lot of play.

the city Chicago has a lot of front loaded deck.

So we have a very large amount that we're paying down right now.

And and so when we think about how we can not schedule repayments of this ponds, if we add them all up front, which of course, will reduce our interest cost same as if when you borrow for a home.

If you do a 15 year Mars, Russia, 30 year, you would pay much less interest.

And that's a very financially prudent thing to do.

If you can afford to make that 15, that that that mortgage payment for the 15, your schedule because we already have a lot of debt in place.

If we were to amortize it.

Sure right now to save interests, we would drive up our costs so much that we we really be adding a tremendous amount of pressure on a budget.

And I think everyone saw challenges that occurred last year.

There was some significant debate over the mayor's proposed budget and some of the revenues were propose were taken away and replaced with someone time uses and a smaller amount of revenues.

So we had a struggle getting close that budget gap with sustainable revenues, adding in a lot of debt service in the near term is ongoing.

Put more pressure on the revenue need to the city going forward.

A few older people have proposed ways to restructure the planned.

You see any other way to do that or to pay it sooner.

You know, certainly one of the things that we do it every single time we issued we try to optimize the debt structure to lower the costs.

So when we showed the your son areas to the alderman it was showing, look, we have a lot of debt here up front and a lot of us debt is going to get repaid after this debt.

But every time we go to market, we're looking at what are the current interest rate?

What is our debt structure look like today and what are ways we can save money.

So our current tax structure has a lot of debt service, but there's ups and downs is not the same every year.

It's unlike having a mortgage because the city has 25 mortgages.

In essence, we have 25 series of outstanding debt.

We have about 5 billion in general obligation, bonds outstanding.

So some years the deaths are more than others.

And so we might repay.

Or in those years where we have a dip so that we end up more level overall.

So each time we go to the markets were going to look at what the markets like today are interest rates higher.

They is the Oakhurst eat and make a decision?

How are going amortize act to save money?

And to that point, when you go to the market, you take your own credit rating with you.

The city's credit rating force.

critics also pointing to that downgrade, which is >> 2 notches above junk, according to S But you've said you don't agree with that downgrade.

Well, we were really disappointed, downgrade because it really didn't speak to the credit fundamentals of the city.

Now, the city has some major financial challenges.

We acknowledge those.

The mayor talked about those all the time.

There's a lot of legacy debt that the city carries primarily our pension debt.

We have about 40 billion dollars in pension liabilities and that's a result and the city for years and years and years making payments into the system that were just insufficient.

>> And so are funded.

Ratios got worse and worse.

Those are legacy debts that we carry and we have knowledge and they weigh down our credit rating.

We have more pension debt, pension liability than any other city in this country.

And in fact, more than most states.

So that is why we primarily why we have a low credit rating.

The reason that the 2 agencies downgraded us after the budget was because concerns about the budget process.

So the mayor proposed budget with a property tax increase in the property tax.

I know it is something that many people get concerned about.

And they really worry about the impact on their budget.

But it is also a very stable source of revenues.

And for most people in the city would have been a very, very modest increase in their annual costs.

Because of the long process it took with City Council to get to a resolution on what other revenues are we going to do and ultimately not getting to a resolution where we replaced all those revenues.

And so we some one time maneuvers and that led to a process where the rating agency said some real concerns about the budgeting.

And, you know, the budgeting ability in the political challenges that we're facing getting these through city council.

And that was really what led to the downgrade.

Some critics have expressed concern that the money would end up paying for projects that are not infrastructure specific.

How do you alleviate that concern?

Yes, we had a lot we've heard that mentioned a lot.

>> And you know, the plan that we put forward that we introduced to city council that we share with alderman we've shared with the public is to find 830 million of infrastructure, all capital investments.

That includes things I talked about, but also what we call menu money, which is the 75 million dollars in total.

It's one and a half million because each alderman for them to address specific projects in their ward that they and their community know are important.

Because all that is Capitol we're putting together.

We've put together a substitue ordinance that would go before council and it specifically for Capital only to make sure that even though we've presented her plans, we understand some people still don't have trust.

And so we've made it clear in some sort the canopy is for anything other than capital, many municipalities and states are also concerned about the stability of federal funding in this administration.

Has that influenced this decision and how are you all taking that into account going forward?

Certainly we are very focused on what's going on at the federal level.

>> Our Office of Budget Management as well as my office is looking at and allies in the situation every single day.

Much of the federal money that we get does come for infrastructure.

And when you delay funding infrastructure, it only becomes more expensive in the future.

No different than if you get a leak in your roof.

If you fix it right away, it's not going to be that expensive.

If you let it go because you don't want to put the money rough, you're going to end up with water damage inside your house.

And that will be much more expensive to fix.

That is exactly what are his years like.

We have to keep up with that need.

It only gets more expensive.

We defer it.

So we less capital dollars from the federal government.

doesn't change the need for us to invest.

So we need to keep current with our investments right now because we may be more challenge officially going forward and we may be having to limit our dollars and how they're used.

So now is not the time for us to step back on what they're spending.

It's a time for us to stay steady and keep expect spending on our infrastructure.

Are you worried or how are you addressing taxpayers trust after after these debates and all >> I mean, certainly that's a big concern to You know, one of the things that I think can really important administration is that the mayor has done what he said he was going to do.

So, you know, we hear a lot of folks who doubt, you know, what we say is an administration what the mayor says, you know, we've heard people said, you know, you're not gonna use this money for capital.

You know, you're going to use this for CPS.

You're going to use it for their pension payment.

What we really look at this, the history of what the city has done.

The mayor has said he's going Dustin Housing.

He said he's going vest and mental health youth employment, public safety.

Those are things that we have done in this administration.

We will continue doing so.

We hope that we build back that public trust by people looking and seeing what has the record OK, we'll have to leave it there.

Joe Jaworski, chief financial officer of City of Chicago.

Thank you for joining us.

Thank you.

And we're back with more Chicago tonight right after this.

>> Now the city plans to spend the last of its dwindling federal COVID relief funds.

Fresh efforts to rid the Chicago Police Department of extremist officers and how the elimination of a state grocery tax could impact municipalities across the state, including Chicago here with all that and more is our spotlight politics team.

Of course, Amanda Vicki and Heather Sharon.

Welcome back.

Team.

Mayor Johnson was asked today about the city's proposed 830 million dollar borrowing plan and a lack of trust between the mayor's office and the City Council.

Here's a little of what he had to say referencing a question at a recent W t Tw Forum.

>> It was a constituent who came to the wt tw open for him and she said mayor either fixed the streets or fix my car.

Guess what?

I would do.

I'm going fix the streets.

>> Some of us were there for that.

It was a funny moment from that resident Heather City Council is set to vote on the plan as we've been discussing tomorrow to borrow 830 million dollars to repair everything from streets, roads, bridges.

Why is this so controversial?

Well, it's really become the center of a social media furor with people worried that this money would be used for >> purposes other than what the mayor says it will be to repair roads and streets and bridges.

>> And also the 2027 mayor's race is already sort of starting with people looking to sort of carve out fiscally responsible lane for them, perhaps to run in 2 years.

>> And also, as you said, there's a really deep lack of trust between City Council with just endured a bruising budget negotiation and the mayor's office.

And nobody's quite sure where exactly that leaves everybody and nobody likes piling more debt on top of more debt us.

already owes nearly 30 billion dollars in general obligation debt.

So that's on top of the pension debt.

And of course, everybody's worried about finances.

The federal government pretty much in chaos.

The state government is grappling with big deficits.

And Johnson says, look, the city's got to take care of itself.

Borrowing is the really the only way he says that that's possible?

Well, and interestingly, he was also asked in general, you know, what about City budget?

What are you going to do?

For example, a federal budget cuts occur and that hurts the city as everyone sort of expecting will be the case and >> mayor is he's consistently has done albeit the Senate bit of a different direction than he's focused on previously in terms of expecting the state to send more money to schools, something that, again is part of the governor's budget plan, but not anywhere near the amount that CPS has talked about.

He said, all right, look at the local government distributive fund.

That's tax really that the state sends to municipalities statewide.

The mayor keeps I'm talking about.

We want more used to be 10%.

Now it's in the range between 6 and 7 that it's states for this municipality said he's received.

Nobody is talking about that.

Just today, the Illinois Municipal League presented their 2025 agenda raising the amount that municipalities get in this L GDF funding from the state, not one of their asks the mayor's the only one that's really talking about it.

I don't think that that portends well for it happening.

And Amanda sticking with this issue of revenue for the city of Chicago and of course, municipalities across the state.

>> Governor Pritzker has been talking up his administration's decision to eliminate the grocery the state grocery tax state.

And that takes effect at the start of next year.

Sounds like it might be good for those of us who buy groceries.

But what impact will it actually have on revenue for Chicago and other cities in Illinois?

The governor has talked about it a lot.

This is part of his budget last year and ever since and really introduce, he's been building it up and saying that while for example, President Trump is doing these tariffs and is going to >> A cost that you have restaurants and groceries.

Illinois helped cut the state's grocery tax.

It is only one percent.

So it's going to save you only a buck on $100 in as part of that package because that's money that all went to municipalities.

Chicago stands to lose between 60 to 80 million dollars starting in January.

This far the city has not voting to bring that back.

And that is something that when the state alum needed this and the grocery tax all over, they gave municipalities the option.

You can go ahead and sort of reinstitute it yourself locally.

So in many places are actually not expecting to be able to save that one dollar on $100 of food purchases because many municipalities are probably going to do that themselves.

Gust bar, according to the U.S. believe only about 60 half.

>> They say they're expecting more to do it as the time approaches.

They got to get it done by October, but really today we're having a primary race right for municipalities.

Then in April comes the general election.

They don't want to vote in a tax increase right before election.

Also, the justification for municipalities is that they want to see who wins and leave it to the new folks to make a decision on bringing that tax and a lot to keep an eye on their.

Okay.

So, Heather, you've also been doing some reporting on the city's remaining federal COVID relief funds because sticking with money tonight.

>> So just over 140 million dollars left from the 1.9 billion dollars.

How is the city going to spend that?

Well, about 450 million dollars of that total amount went to programs designed to repair the city's.

>> Tattered social safety net.

But the city had a lot more in the bank before.

As I said, this really rough budget season and the city council voted to reduce spending on these programs 87 million dollars to help balance that budget and avoid a property tax site.

So sure, 142 million dollars sounds like a lot to spend over the next 2 years when it expires.

But the city would have had significantly more had it figured out how to balance its budget without canceling programs like a renewed, guaranteed basic income program and more money for violence prevention, which we spent a lot of time talking about in last couple of weeks.

This Lee.

>> also Governor Pritzker, Amanda.

He was on CNN today.

So this is something we heard from him due to a lot of attention.

It got national attention news on Rachel Maddow after.

>> Using the end of his state of the state in the budget address, too, really talk about the state of the nation and then he made comparisons to what is happening in the United States right now under President Trump to that lead up early to World War 2 and what happens in Germany under under Hitler and he talked about that same situation again today on CNN.

So really, I don't think that I heard anything but he is bringing this message of dangers of the Constitutional Republic to a national audience.

And of course, that could perhaps a sign that he has national ambitions.

We've long known that harbored those.

He was, of course, in the running to be a vice presidential running mate.

But he also says that this is a true fear and a warning that he wants individuals to take seriously.

And there's a lot of frustration that other Democrats are not sounding the alarm with such fury.

And so the governor doing a lot of it on his own.

>> Heather, you've done extensive reporting.

Also in police misconduct, the issue of alleged extremists within the Chicago Police Department city is just no forming a task on this issue.

So, listen, we've got about 45 seconds.

Well, 8 months ago, Inspector General Denver Westword revealed that she had recommended the mayor's office formed a task force to look at sort of a whole of government approach.

How do we root out extremists might be on the city's payroll?

And at that time, the mayor's office declined but reversed course just last week but didn't issue a press release didn't hold a press event.

Really didn't throw the full force of the bully pulpit behind that effort.

This is a tough issue involving a lot of difference rules and people's First Amendment rights of association.

It's not clear whether this task force is going to start to solve problem.

That has been doubling the city for a while.

But at least there's going to be some meetings, I guess, meetings.

Hopefully you'll let us know.

I'm sure.

one thing we did not get to former Governor Jim Edgar announcing that he is battling pancreatic cancer.

Of course, we wish him the best in his fight against that.

>> spotlight politics.

My thank you to have a Sharon and Up next, remembering legendary soul singer and longtime Cook County Commissioner Jerry Iceman Butler.

sole singer Jerry Iceman Butler, died late last week.

Butler was known for hits like For Your Precious Love.

Only the strong survive and make it easy on yourself.

He recorded more than 50 albums was a 3 time Grammy nominee and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

But there was also a face in local politics serving more than 30 years as a Cook County board.

Commissioner.

Here he is on the Friday night show with Bob's Iran in 2003.

What was the music scene like?

>> Back in Chicago in the late 50's.

When you are getting started.

>> You know, it reading rent it.

And yet.

City Hall and most of the places downtown north of Madison didn't even know it existed.

2 worlds, 2 different worlds.

Place Co record Brewer.

Most of the record companies were located chest.

That was BG.

That was wonderful record distributors all up down the block.

to be fair and out of work or drive company called marker records would Leclerc court CBS okay, records over there and then download Medicine Street RCA Record drive going.

South on must have been an exciting Absolutely wonderful time.

The music was and then the unique thing about Chicago is that he's always had a great variety.

The music, for instance, the J and chest with owners rhythm and blues labels.

But they really did rhythm and blues jazz and gospel.

I was seeing nearly a 2.

The only place I know where you got a Grammy and blues jazz gospel classical music and Chicago.

>> Terri Butler died last week at the age of 85.

And that's our show for this Tuesday night.

Join us tomorrow night at 5, 30 10.

>> Now for all of us here in Chicago Brandis Friedman, thank you for watching.

Stay healthy and safe and have a good night.

>> Closed caption was made possible by Robert, a cliff and Clifford law offices, a Chicago personal injury and wrongful That is proud to be a