Budget Director Susie Park unveiled the updated budget forecast during Wednesday’s meeting of the City Council’s Budget and Government Operations Committee, which holds a hearing to examine the city’s financial condition every quarter.
While Mayor Lori Lightfoot and her administration have touted the proposal from Bally’s as the most lucrative proposal the city received and said the casino would be an “iconic” addition to Chicago’s riverfront, members of the City Council continue to greet those claims with skepticism.
While members of the Lightfoot administration touted the proposal from Bally’s as the most lucrative proposal the city recieved and said the casino would be an “iconic” addition to Chicago's riverfront, nearly all members of a special City Council committee formed to consider the plan greeted those claims with skepticism.
Lightfoot’s support for a casino on what is now the Chicago Tribune printing plant and newsroom near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street will bounce the roulette ball to the Chicago City Council to consider Bally’s plan.
The program was narrowly approved after several members blasted Lightfoot’s plan as an election-year stunt that would benefit oil companies without offering Chicagoans real relief from the pain at the pump.