44th Ward Service Organization

07-02-09

Our 1057 W. Belmont Service Office will be CLOSED on Friday, July 3 and Saturday July 4.

Changes to 2009-2010 City of Chicago Vehicle Stickers and Residential Parking Permits

Our 1057 W. Belmont Service Office is unable to sell the combined 2009-2010 City Vehicle Stickers/Annual Zone 383 Parking Permit. Our office will continue to sell Zone 383 Residential Parking Permit Guest Passes.

For the 2009-2010 vehicle sticker year, there will no longer be a separate annual residential permit parking sticker. If you purchase an annual residential parking permit, your new vehicle sticker will now include your residential parking permit zone number and license plate number. The permit parking zone number is printed right on the vehicle sticker.

City of Chicago Vehicle Stickers/Residential Parking Permits may be purchased on-line beginning June 1, 2009 at the City Clerk’s web-site (www.chicityclerk.com). You will also find a complete listing of City Clerk locations, Department of Revenue Sub-Stations and Community Vendors.

If you have purchased a City Vehicle Sticker without a Zone 383 permit, you will need to: take the sticker to a City Clerk Office location to surrender it, pay the $25 fee for the Annual Parking Permit, and the City Clerk will print you a replacement sticker.

CITY CLERK OFFICE LOCATIONS

121 N. LaSalle Street - City Hall

8:00am - 5:00 p.m. M - F

Closed on Saturdays

5430 W. Gale Street

8:00am - 5:00pm. M, Tu, Th, F

8:00am - 7:00pm. Wed

Saturdays (June 1 through July 15). 9:00am - 12:00pm

5674 S. Archer Avenue, Unit A

8:00am - 5:00pm. M, Tu, Th, F

8:00am - 7:00pm. Wed

Saturdays (June 1 through July 15). 9:00am - 12:00pm

COMMUNITY VENDORS CLOSE TO THE 44th WARD

Broadway-Cornelia Currency Exchange

3477 Broadway Street (Across from the Treasure Island)

Clark-Diversey Currency Exchange

2735 N. Calrk St. (Just South of Diversey)

Ashland-Diversey Currency Exchange

2753 N. Ashland Ave. (Just South of Diversey)

Please note: These location can sell the combined City Sticker/Annual Parking Permit. Community Vendors may charge a convenience fee of up to $5.50.

The Department of Revenue Sub-Station located at 2550 W. Addison will be installing two stations capable of selling the new combined City Sticker/Residential Parking Permit. 2550 W. Addison does NOT sell the annual 383 permit in conjunction with the City Vehicle Sticker.

Amendment to the Dumpster Tax

At the May 13, 2009 City Council meeting, my fellow aldermen and I voted to amend the Commercial Refuse Container Permit Ordinance, also known as the “Dumpster Tax.” The original ordinance was passed as part of the City’s 2009 Budget. The dumpster fee is charged to waste haulers in Chicago. This newly passed amendment effectively lowers the fees associated with the original ordinance by approximately 40%.

The amended changes include:

Instead of one annual permit and payment, CDOT will issue four-month permits with payments made three times per year by the waste haulers.
The sticker requirement has been eliminated.
There are no fees for recycling containers.

Fee Table

Container Size: Less than 1 cubic yard
Original Annual Fees: $80
Amended Annual Fees: $51

Container Size: 1-2 cubic yards
Original Annual Fees: $150
Amended Annual Fees: $96

Container Size: 2 to 10 cubic yards
Original Annual Fees: $300
Amended Annual Fees: $189

Container Size: More than 10 cubic yards
Original Annual Fees: $780
Amended Annual Fees: $492

I was a leading voice on the taskforce designed to evaluate and amend the “dumpster tax” passed in November 2008. I voted for this amendment to ensure the fee rates would be lowered. If the amendment had not passed, the higher ordinance fees would have remained in place. I remain dedicated to working with both residents and businesses of the 44th ward as we move forward.

Sincerely,

Alderman Tom Tunney

Eighth Annual Lakefront Sculpture Exhibit

There are 20 new sculptures on display in the 43rd (Lincoln Park) and 44th (Lakeview) Wards as part of the Eighth Annual Lakefront Sculpture Exhibit. These are remarkable works from some of the most talented artists in the Greater Chicagoland area. These sculptures are made from many differing types of materials and reflect the artists’ styles and interests. As has been the case for the past shows, the Lakefront Sculpture Exhibition is entirely funded by private contributions.

http://www.lplvai.org/

Alderman Tunney and others propose ordinances to jumpstart local economy

Alderman Tunney and others introduced a series of ordinances at the Arpil 22nd City Council meeting that will serve as a Chicago Stimulus Plan to help jumpstart the regional economy. The four measures, intended to help businesses and consumers alike, would encourage consumer spending and reduce the cost of doing business in Chicago. The proposed ordinances would eliminate taxes that discourage both spending and hiring in Chicago, streamline city government to make it more efficient both for the City and for the business community, and implement a moratorium on future parking meter rate increases.

Additional aldermen signing on to parts of the Chicago Stimulus Plan include: Robert Fioretti (2), Pat Dowell (3), Walter Burnett (23), Scott Waguespack (32), Brian Doherty (41), Brendan Reilly (42), Vi Daley (43), Helen Shiller (46), and Gene Schulter (47).

Details on the four ordinances filed by Alderman Tunney today as part of the Chicago Stimulus Plan include:

Phasing out the costly Employer Head Tax to encourage more hiring. Businesses currently pay $4 per employee, per month which stymies local job creation. The proposed amendment would gradually reduce the head tax by $1 per year (from $4 to $0) over a 4 year period so as not to impact the City’s budget too much. This change will encourage hiring in Chicago.

Eliminating downtown parking taxes only on weekends to encourage shopping, dining and theatre goers in the Central Business District. With a good marketing plan the City will realize increases in sales tax, restaurant tax and other revenues through this proposed ordinance. The Central Business District would begin at the easternmost point of Division Street extended to Lake Michigan; then west on Division Street to LaSalle Street; then south on LaSalle Street to Chicago Avenue; then west on Chicago Avenue to Halsted Street; then south on Halsted Street to Roosevelt Road; then east on Roosevelt Road to its easternmost point extended to Lake Michigan.

Streamlining business licenses, permits and fees to make it more efficient for the City and businesses. This proposed resolution would require city departments to streamline operations so businesses can receive one itemized bill annually for all the permits, licenses and fees they need each year. Today businesses must navigate multiple departments, which is time consuming and costs money. Relevant departments, including Business Affairs, Transportation, Revenue, Law and Buildings, along with business representatives would participate in a task force to develop a streamlined process for unified delivery of annual permits, fees and licenses.

Implementing a moratorium on future meter rate increases until “Pay and Display” metering is installed. The implementation of the City’s lease of parking meters, and subsequent increase in parking meter rates, has been hindered by the inability to adapt rate increases with adequate equipment resulting countless broken meters. The ordinance authorizing the lease deal included a schedule of parking meter rate increases beginning January 1, 2009. This proposed ordinance would prohibit future rate increases until such time as “pay and display” metering is installed, as opposed to traditional, individual parking meters. “Pay and display” metering allows for use of credit cards and is free of the mechanical problems associated with traditional meters.