Chicago Schools Running Out of Money Quickly; Municipal Recycling’s Economic Quandary
Gloomy skies will continue for Chicago's public schools. Stephen Finn / Shutterstock.com
Also: The Sacramento Kings arena trial is starting.
Some things you may have missed this weekend …
CHICAGO, Illinois: Officials in the nation’s third-largest city don’t have any good choices regarding how to pay all the various bills for the cash-strapped public schools. And the money the Chicago Public Schools has left is running out quickly. A $600 million teachers pension fund payment is due June 30.
The Chicago Tribune paints a grim picture:
To pay the huge tab due to the Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund, make payroll and cover other costs, the nation's third-largest school system would have to drain its checking account, max out its line of credit and burn cash set aside to pay other debts, according to outlines of school finances presented in city documents.
If CPS resorts to those steps, the district has no clear way to close next school year's $1 billion budget gap without teacher layoffs, increased class sizes and perhaps even a late opening of schools.
Also, there could be $228 million in bank penalties looming, too, “the costly legacy of a series of complex financial deals masterminded by school board President David Vitale.” [Chicago Tribune]
WASHINGTON, District of Columbia: There’s a big problem for municipal recycling contractors across the nation: These days, it’s hard to make the economics of the once-profitable business work. The Washington Post details all the problems, which industry leaders say may be worse than it appears:
The District, Baltimore and many counties in between are contributing millions annually to prop up one of the nation’s busiest facilities here in Elkridge, Md. — but it is still losing money. In fact, almost every facility like it in the country is running in the red. And Waste Management and other recyclers say that more than 2,000 municipalities are paying to dispose of their recyclables instead of the other way around.
One big culprit, according to The Post: single-stream recycling a.k.a. the blue bins. [The Washington Post]
DES MOINES, Iowa: Frank Cownie, who has been mayor of Iowa’s largest city for 12 years, plans to run for re-election this fall. The Des Moines Register profiled Cownie this weekend, “forged a reputation for relentless environmental advocacy coupled with a national and global focus,” which has included 140 out of state trips, including 66 trips to Washington, D.C. on official business. “At the federal level, [Cownie] has a great deal of respect from other mayors but also governors and the federal administration, including the president," Michael Schmitz, executive director of ICLEI USA, told the newspaper. [Des Moines Register]
SACRAMENTO, California: A new $477 million downtown arena is currently under construction for the Sacramento Kings. But the amount of money that Sacramento City Hall has officially committed to the project, $255 million, has been the subject of a lawsuit by three residents who allege that there may have been $200 million in additional “sweeteners” to the deal with investors without full public disclosure.
According to The Sacramento Bee:
Downtown residents Jim Cathcart and Julian Camacho and Tahoe Park community activist Isaac Gonzalez say the deal is a fraud, and they’re asking for a court order invalidating the subsidy. For the next two weeks in Sacramento Superior Court, they will press their claim that the mayor and people around him lied to the public about the true value of the arena subsidy.
The trial starts Monday. [Sacramento Bee]
BEACHWOOD, Ohio: The mayor of this Cleveland suburb has distributed swimming pool passes to city workers, organizations, businesses and city council members for years. Last week, city council members took measures to codify the practice, according to the Northeast Ohio Media Group and as it turns out, city council members cannot receive free pool passes “because the city charter does not allow them to receive an increase or decrease in compensation.” [NEOMG]
NEXT STORY: States and Cities Are ‘Laboratories’ for Inclusive Governance