Daley's $10 Million Shortfall

The first we're hearing about this:

• Mayor Daley has ordered 3,250 city managers to take one unpaid furlough day, cut off non-emergency overtime and suspended hiring unrelated to public safety to plug a $10 million hole in his 2007 budget.

  The question is whether those belt-tightening measures will be enough to close the mid-year gap -- or whether Chicagoans must brace for a post-election tax increase.

  "I can't tell you that at this time. What we're doing now, rather than look at tax increases, is controlling expenses through the end of the year," city Budget Director Paul Volpe said today.

The article goes on to say how the budget projections were off by a bit here and there, like the increase in the cigarette tax that we predicted would result in a massive shift of revenue to surrounding suburbs, counties and Indiana (and we were 100% correct). And then there was the cold snap that resulted in massive overtime charges against the Water Department when long neglected water mains and pipes burst. When you neglect infrastructure and spend the "savings" on crooked construction deals, land deals and Olympic proposals, you're going to get hammered down the road.

Good thing the mayor can order people to eat vacation days, eh?