>> Good evening and thanks for joining us on the week in review.

I'm Brandis Friedman, Nick Bloomberg has the evening off school's back in session this week after a summer budget fight or leaders feeling saved by the bell.

>> This is actually one of the most amazing times of the year.

And it's because it is the year of new beginnings that starting.

>> And a much more joyful hopeful way.

Then it ended last school year.

Cps retires, hundreds of staff members, but the threat of mid year layoff still hangs over the start of a new year to world-class airport.

A world-class downtown.

And we're going to be connecting the 2 while business leaders look to bypass the blue line to O'Hare.

The West side stretch of track falls into disrepair.

>> We need continuous support even beyond just a back, OK, go will be good.

>> The lights are coming back on in Gary.

But there's a long road to recovery ahead.

Meanwhile, our data centers getting off easy on property taxes.

More shakeups in the race for school board.

President and Chicagoans pay their respects to country music icon Dolly Parton.

>> And now to our week in review panel.

Joining us are.

Some new guy never heard before Welcome back.

Currently at NBC 5, maybe back to the V a shop beach, Chicago.

Tell log-in of the Chicago Tribune and Alex Nick and with the Illinois answers projects.

Thanks for joining us to all of Welcome back.

You guy.

So Becky, let's start with schools on the first day of school this week, we saw both CPS and CTU leaders say that, you know, they're looking forward to a fresh start.

>> Does it feel like, you know, they're taking a genuine step forward after this budget fights or just sort of a first a formality in ice teas.

I think formalities and niceties because certainly guess.

>> I don't call it super dark cloud.

But the gray cloud kind of hangs over.

There's some tension still around what will happen?

Mid-year should Springfield not allocate additional money that the school board?

>> Assumed that they might get or if Springfield doesn't do that, come up with that money from another source, potentially city hall.

That still is a big unknown.

And so I think for the folks at the top and then certainly the school board of who many of them are up for election this fall.

There's a there's tensions still still in the air.

Yeah.

Let's remember.

They passed a budget.

That's 150 million dollars out of whack because House Speaker Emanuel, Chris Welch in the midst of >> a little bit of a kerfuffle of his own promised CTU.

They've got to go find some money.

He never said how much they said 150 Million.

Let's let's let's back on that.

turns out he walked that back.

They're probably not going to get that money.

Can they get it another way from tips or plus, the mayor did declare a huge tip surplus last year.

He certainly could do the same thing again.

But it's just this constant political back and forth and if they don't get that I know we're going to talk about how they rehired, you know, several 100 staff members and teachers, but there could be a huge cliff in the middle there where they have to lay off a bunch of people write in and they've rehired.

Becky, you know, fill us in on that 300 full-time employees.

But there is still the threat of these major layoffs without that 150, right.

So in July, this budget was passed the last week of July that made this amendment but assumed to this 150 million dollar extra money.

>> And they did that assumption so they can avoid layoffs.

But there were layoffs that have happened in July.

So in the month of August, really leading up to August 24th the first day of school, the district had to communicate with principals, many of whom had already figured out their schedules finalize their teaching staff as a solidified their classroom, who would be in the top in the front of every classroom.

And essentially what they announced this week was that they working with principals, had rehired basically recalled 300 staff for school-based staffers.

And I you know what?

>> I think what's really unknown is is will they?

Well, those people that in fees to lay off later in the Christmas season for the teachers, you know, for the teachers and staff.

That's going to be a lot of, you know, sort of with certainty for that uncertainty.

I don't know how you stand in front of your, you know, your classroom of students at the beginning of the year.

But that kind of hanging over your head.

>> let's talk about that if because the are the 2 funding because the budget does count on some of that, Alex, a report from the Great Cities Institute at UIC found that most of the benefit to the tip system get funneled downtown instead of neighborhoods.

surprising at all.

There's been lots of criticism about that not really.

I mean, this was a lot of data and evidence that essentially gci at the University of Illinois, Chicago added to the sort of mountain of data that we already have showing that.

>> Yes, the areas that essentially need the help the most are getting at least from Taft just by the nature of the way that it works.

Words pulling revenue from areas, property taxes are growing.

And so that's how you end up with this system where a handful of tips downtown are getting literally hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax revenue every single year accruing these huge amounts that will either stay there with American declare them a surplus later while other neighborhoods are being left behind.

And meanwhile, I know that sort of phenomenon that the report shed a lot of weight on was how this ultimately ends up, pushing our taxes up our property tax because if there's all this money addition all these other districts, local governments and especially the school district have to still raise their money from somewhere.

And so we'll pay for it, Paris.

I mean, you know, a lot of mayoral candidates, they beat the drum about fiscal responsibility.

How likely is the whole TIF program?

How likely is it to get a shake up?

>> Well, we've been talking about this for as long as I've been covering.

It's the same thing.

It's all this money that gets funneled to the local look at that.

The 78 where they're going to build the fire stadium.

That's getting a massive tip that Mayor Johnson approved what some like 400.

>> Something million dollars.

That's a that's a big chunk of money.

But if you want, if it's such an obscure thing that I don't think it's the biggest political, a football.

It is to some people.

It is to fiscal watchdogs.

And so it's been a tool for mayors to use in the past.

It was criticized as being a slush fund for the mayor.

The problem was where the money was going not necessarily that tips exist tip is a tool that's used all over the country and it could have unit there.

supposed to be used as a down payment on economic development.

So it brings more money to the tax roll.

So overall, you broaden the tax base and people end up spending less.

But obviously we know that's not what happened.

It has been obscured supposed to be obscure the fact now that it's generating almost 2 billion dollars every single year when the city and all governments have a budget crisis it's going to start being a lot less obscure, right?

So that there's the budget crisis, its EPS, of and to the district initially, I think banked on 200 million dollars for their budget.

The added another 80 million dollars of TIF money.

I mean, do you think this report puts any of those funds under under some scrutiny?

Well, I think that the big question is, is there more in there than what at least from the CPS side?

Is there more in there than what the CPS folks have already assumed like you said, they had a pretty conservative estimate.

>> In the initial budget proposed which had layoffs also are I'm sorry, not layoffs, furloughs.

Also as part of that budget, Bob, before the vote, that was the First Amendment really before the state state money amendment.

There was an amendment say never mind about the furloughs were going to increase.

Our tip assumption.

Our tip surplus assumption now is the question?

I haven't.

And Alex hits it on the head is that there?

These tips are just generating so much money and it's almost like defies logic because he declared a surplus last year.

That was the most the one, that he's a 5 foot early into and now suddenly we're assuming we're going to get another record tip surplus, which, you know, says test likely aren't necessarily bladed areas.

They're just areas that like spilling like a fountain But it's kind of a shell game, right?

Like you can just kind of I don't want to say, make up a number.

But you just say, OK, this is what our surpluses.

But how do we rely target to moving target?

People at sister agencies like CPS, how you decide to budget.

In that environment.

You have made last week and you know what you're actually getting by then.

You've already made some choices, as is the case with CPS and talked about this odd structure that now exists, which is that CPS approves their budget in the summer.

That's like the state and operate on a fiscal year June 30.

I'm sorry, July one June 30.

Where's the city operates on a calendar year budget and so their budget process comes after the CPS budget.

So just by virtue of that, liked not interesting in Chicago.

Yeah.

Exactly.

fun of that.

OK, tell us if districts they've been used to finance modernization of the red and purple lines.

But you reported that the blue line on the West Side is in need of some serious repairs which you find there.

Yeah, I mean, this is not surprising to people who take the Forest Park branch of the blue line, which, you know, take you from downtown for the West Side all the way to Forest parks.

A lot of commuters over there.

>> More than 84% of that branch is a slow zone.

Slow zones can happen for reason.

So you might see them during construction in this case.

It's largely because the track is sold and the trains just have to run so slowly and the CTA does say, you know, progress sort of happening.

They're starting design work on the track replacement that they say is needed to really fix this once and for all the kind of general maintenance they do on regular basis just isn't enough with infrastructure, about old, but that could take 2 years.

Only then when we have a sense of when there might be a real construction timeline and not there's money for it, I will write to remember.

>> I'm dating myself here.

But when the North the to O'Hare branch of that had all kind of slow zones, it was similar percentage and you could not get to O'Hare.

It was like an hour and a half to sit on and we're going to talk about they fix that another get a fix.

That will go ahead.

let's just talk about Paris because business leaders are saying that they've got a new idea for this lightning fast trip that we can take now from downtown to O'Hare.

>> Yeah, well, I back and I were just talking about what, 8 years ago when Elon Musk came to town to block 37 and said we're going to build this Hyperloop tunnel.

>> With this new technology with this speed, the boring could this more.

ice.

And it was that it was going to be express train.

This seems to be more plausible because what they're doing now is they're going to use the right away on existing afraid, you know, rail tracks that they have opened up to them.

I think it's it's amazing that they've been working on this in secret for 3 years and that nothing got out until now.

They've won the who said the head of this is very used to He used to manage JB Pritzker's politics before Pritzker effort.

So maybe got a connection there.

But, you know, I envision some may be bumpy road ahead or track ahead, because, you know, if you look at where that's going to into river forest where I grew up and that's literally an 80 mile an hour train going through the backyards of all residential.

Are they going to be happy about that?

You've got to sit em issue going to Bridgeport, the Amtrak yard.

People not happy about that go into the backyard.

So it seems possible.

It seems like a massive investment.

Do they have the investor given them a new west 5 billion dollars?

think they said private know which good for the economy.

I mean.

>> Cities big cities need.

>> Good transit from their report.

Can they pull it off on?

One of the big questions is can they get these agreements from the freight railroad street on?

They sort of most of agreement with one of them are still 2 more.

And so they really mean their blessing to use that track.

And feel like that's one of the big questions.

Still, those can take a long time, as we know from the 606 from the Paseo trailing Pilsen from the E R a trail in Englewood and it feels like every couple of years like clockwork.

We have business leaders and people coming out thinking that they're the first people to ever think of this.

Like what if we had express train from O'Hare and behind you have transit experts saying, hey, that'll take a really long time to really expensive.

What if maybe we just improve service on the existing blue line or if you want a 15 minute commute during rush hour better yet you could charge a toll on the Kennedy Expressway.

There would be less traffic.

would use that money for transit.

that is just not bold and innovative enough for business leaders to just sort of like flocked to this like an every time.

So Alex, you 80 quit at the trip this week reported on data centers potentially being let off the hook for like 100 million dollars in property taxes.

Tell us what found.

>> Yeah.

So this was through a mix of this sort of normal course of business at county level of the way that >> properties will get reductions on their property taxes either through appealing, which is the process that we all know here of just saying.

I think that my property is being assessed by too much or through incentives was called classics, be incentives that are agreed upon between the towns and the data centers and combined.

What we found is that through those 2 vehicles, we looked at 18 data centers specifically in the O'Hare area where a lot of them clustered and found almost 2 billion dollars in their combined taxable value was knocked off, which translated to about 100 million dollars and fewer taxes that they pay.

And because we're talking about assessments, hear what that means is that the everyone else, you know, homeowner is in those towns and places like a privilege.

And think we'll end up paying a little bit more as a result.

Data centers are.

It's just amazing how this has become such a galvanizing political issue.

It's going to be big in the midterms.

It's the Mayor.

Johnson is.

>> You know, put a moratorium.

I've been doing a lot of research on this because I'm working on a big project done data center.

And that was a brilliant, wonderful article.

I it's clear to me that the policy around this over the last couple years because it's been done in secret until people started caring because of AI now.

And now everyone knows about this.

The policy has been really haphazard.

You know, they're going in places that they probably shouldn't go residential areas, Elk Grove.

They have that giant industrial areas near an airport.

Maybe that's a more appropriate place.

The power usage the water uses.

Those things have not been figured out because these companies are going into these small towns like Yorkville, a graze like there's a big battle there and cutting deals before anyone knows about it.

And now the public is finally pushing back.

So it does seem like data centers are inevitable.

There might be ways to do this in an economical way in a way that's environmentally doesn't cause brownouts.

But it has to be more consistent policy from the state and from the federal government.

And we talk local leaders who are really being caught on the back foot by all of this backlash because they say even with all these reductions, data centers are still paying so much in property taxes, more than a lot of use design the mayors about privilege in North Lake and Franklin Park said 2 years ago, everyone loved data centers.

2 years ago.

It was the most popular guy for attracting these 2 businesses.

Suddenly the pitchfork surrounding so that the building because the Elk Grove mayor bragged about the fact that he gives rebates to people every year based on data center of a like 20 something million dollars.

He says they've taken it accurate.

He gives gift cards like gift cards to his residents every year saying thank the data centers they brought in all this tax revenue.

So it's been a big one.

80 tell you, there's also been some strong pushback against 8 data center regulations from trade unions.

How much much weight to think that carries?

>> you but I think it depends you look across country, but I think certainly that's something we'll be looking at.

But you know it.

Here's the thing.

They they block the labor unions local one 50, the IOU.

They block data center regulations in Springfield and you've got a mature supermajor Democrats literally they they did not touch data centers because they're afraid of the upcoming elections.

They don't want to take off the unions.

But then when they go back in the veto session, I think everybody the unions, they are expecting something to happen in the veto session because they know what a big political issue this is.

But they like the jobs, but they're not the their jobs building these things.

They're not.

You know, they're not gonna be there forever, I'm Becky.

Let's talk about elections.

Specifically the race for CPS board president got a little bit smaller this week.

>> Someone dropped out.

Has that changed the race?

Yes.

So I'm Jennifer Custer withdrew her name from filed paperwork withdraw her name from the ballot and issued a letter explaining why she felt that that was right move for her.

She cited special interests ready to funnel millions into this race.

We've already seen.

>> Millions go into this specifically board president race in just catch.

Everyone up.

There is a school board election this colors wherever you of the 21 seats are up for election.

You'll vote for somebody in a district vote for a board president.

These are the citywide.

This is like came to the mayor.

And so Jennifer Custer dropped out there for candidates.

Now remaining one Larry of Dominga former CTU political director Jennifer Biggs, a former CPS principle Victor Henderson, her attorney and central revelry, who is a consultant and former CPS teacher and a parent.

And he those for now make up the field and many are kind of observing that.

You know, with the CTU having one candidate and other interest kind of splitting among 3, you have a mask situation here that could tip the scales toward the sea to you.

Just give in that.

There are you know that the values that that many teachers progressives aligned with and then you've got these other 3.

And I think what will be interesting now with with Custer dropped out is where some of the folks who are backing her Ryan up behind this as the grudge match election in Chicago this this November.

I mean, this is the election with the money that's going to be spent here already tens of millions of dollars.

>> And it's special interest that say to you, its charter schools.

It's a group of called Common Ground Common Ground Collective led where witches the associated with Michael It was made the videos is it that was made him the bogeyman and so and then SEIU, which was like kind of a sister union CTU, that they're they're not So as these big special interest that that want to have this control, this 10 billion dollar agency that accounts for more than 50% of your property taxes.

Chicagoans.

If you don't have a kid CPS, it matters to you more than 50%.

Your property taxes.

pay Paris, let's talk about because there's a lot of anger building towards the company.

The utility company Nipsco what sort of screen near they underwrite a lot even the Republican governor who was appointed the regulatory commission there, he's saying investigate Nipsco and the anger it's goes been growing for a while.

They pay the highest rates in Indiana of any power customers in any of these northwest, Indiana folks with Nipsco.

comment in the same storm blew through the south suburbs or Chicago comment.

Got the power on and what to 3 days for pretty much 99%.

Residents Nipsco 2 weeks for Gary and mean, I don't you don't see that in this country a lot.

And so a lot of history is going to be focused They raise rates 3 billion dollars in the last 10 or 11 years.

They just got another rate hike for 257 million dollars.

What did it go toward?

Did they modernizing infrastructure?

The thing that the governor wants to really look at is trimming of vegetation around the power lines, trees.

Did they do what they were supposed to do?

Because could that of the avoided the trees falling down on these power lines?

That didn't happen so much in in Illinois.

And so they were supposed and pledged in public documents to do about 1200 miles of vegetation clearing every year on the lines.

They revealed that they did about 920 25 to lessen they promised.

Is that a problem?

That's what this investigation is going look into.

And also there's a class action lawsuit.

This class is saying we've had enough, we pay the highest rates.

They've gone up and up and up every year.

And what are we gotten for it, right?

There's, of course, a lot of scrutiny as well.

The Kerry being a largely black African American nation, right.

And course going, it's going low-income.

Exactly.

Exactly.

So, mean, there's very least the disproportionate impact on that community.

>> Alex, the mayor this week signed an executive order to prevent companies that assist ice in their deportation campaign from doing business with the city.

>> What impact do you think that will have?

I mean, it's hard to say always with an executive order.

You have to sort of look at whether it's short or more for show you.

It seems like it's been picking up.

>> How many executive orders has been doing the worst.

His relationship with the city Council gets because this sort of less than he can actually legislate into ordinance.

But essentially it's a pretty broad executive order that applies to procurement practices prevent the city hiring other companies outside companies to do business with the city applying to not just ice, but essentially businesses will have to report that they need diversity requirements and thresholds that they will have to a test to sort of meet certain anti-corruption measures and essentially try to give the city more power to you.

Better scrutinize what companies they're dealing with and procurement is a really big, complicated, messy politically tricky, honestly area that you might start to hear more barrel candidates talk about, especially as they look for savings in the next Tell you the campaign behind this order cause they've been working in other cities as well, be highlighted a contract with the company.

>> That is leading the O'Hare expansion project.

Do you think this order could put that project into any sort of jeopardy?

We know the order doesn't prevent companies with contracts.

We know princess with ICE from doing business with the city just requires them to disclose them.

So it's not really a thing clear what the practical effect will be.

>> Right.

So it sounds to me then like it's not very clear.

If you've already got this contract with the city, right?

But you're going to have to.

You can't just reached on a lot executive orders.

You know, we did guns.

kind of unclear what authority the city has.

It's unclear what the impact is going to be.

>> It, you know, I think not coincidentally coming around the time where candidates would announce their intentions, whether they're going to run or not.

Hey, it's election season.

you know, it sounds like everything he's doing.

But you know, we we don't an official announcement.

Yes, speaking amid terms of some confusion about mail-in voting, I don't know if y'all have whiplash or not.

But Paris, what do we know about the Supreme Court's decision and what impact it might have Well, late last night, a district court or put another injunction on this plan to target mail-in ballot.

So President Trump, here's the backstory signs.

This executive order that basically gives the United States postal service the ability to like withhold sending out mail-in ballots because it's making the election authorities which every state, every jurisdiction runs their own elections their own way.

They have to give information to the Postal Service.

There's no pulse.

then cross-checked are you know, really Gul mail-in voters.

They have a real reason.

How's the USPS going to do that?

I don't really know, especially in the next few weeks.

So.

All things pointed to when the Supreme Court ruled that basically just said the injunction >> was pretty much are the order hasn't gone into place.

so when this USPS put its order in place last week, they say we're going to follow the rule.

Then the states like Illinois sued again and the injunction came down to this report.

Didn't give Trump a victory.

Basically said you acted too soon.

So now this is the normal course of procedure.

It seems like this injunction would make everything kind of goes normal.

Now tell you, there's been an executive order, multiple lawsuits, Supreme Court decision.

What impact you think this is having voters in about 30 seconds?

It's hard to know.

People understand.

>> I think, you know, people are being told to get their mail in ballots early.

It's hard to know.

I can't imagine keeping up with this as a regular person whose job isn't to ring the news.

And so Cook County, 375,000 mail-in ballots have been requested.

Now, some of these are kind of every year they're on that list.

And so and what that election are stories told me say, tell everybody everything is normal.

Everything's gonna go forward is normal for now.

As long as you vote early, that's a common and not all now are now.

Yeah.

All right.

That is we're out of time.

So we're gonna have to leave it for now.

My thanks to Paris Shots and Becky Dv.

>> And Thomas Log-in and Alex Nic in.

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

The Pope Brothers Foundation.

And the support of these donors.

>> And that's our show for this Friday night for the latest environmental news information on local wildlife and ideas.

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Sign up for our free email newsletter.

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That's a W t tw Dot Com Slash newsletter.

Now for the week in review.

I'm Brandis Friedman, thank you for watching.

Stay healthy, stay safe and stay informed and have a great weekend.

>> And here's how are you remembering Dolly Parton?

I love her music.

I mean, all the things that have been said about her are true.

What an amazing iconic Americans.

I I can't think of anyone else that was universally beloved and have these wonderful guys.

But I just want to say that she has one of the best singers and songwriters in American history or songs are brilliant.

Go check out her early work.

Go check out trio with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris.

That's ballot.

>> I I'm not that much of a country fan, but my favorite fact, I think about apartment I learned is that she's the only person you have and you say this right?

>> Hit in the country.

Top 20 charts a different hit in each of 7 different decades while which quite a likes to her.

Yeah.

So I watch 95 this week and I feel like, know, nice straight talk another in Chicago where he plays a country.

Chicago and becomes a talk radio host.

Great But check it out.

A closed captioning is made possible by Clifford and Clifford Law offices, Chicago, personal injury and wrongful that