Rahm has relented. Well, sort of.
On Friday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he will restore $4.3 million in originally proposed cuts for the $6.3 million city budget. The move came after city aldermen delivered a letter to the mayor on Wednesday detailing several key concerns about the proposed budget.
Emanuel said he reduced cuts to the library budget by $3.3 million, allowing libraries to return to the full six-days-a-week schedule when school is out, as well as during the summer months and over holiday breaks. The move will restore more than 100 of the planned library layoffs, the mayor's office said in a statement.
Emanuel had originally cut $10 million from the library budget, a move that sparked outrage among librarians and union officials.
Additionally the mayor said he would restore $1 million worth of lot cleaning, weed cutting and graffiti removal services and extend a discount on water service fees for small non-profit organizations.
The restored cuts will be offset by an increase in fines and enforcement for vehicle sticker scofflaws. He also will maintain the weight threshold for heavier vehicles to avoid big city sticker increases, instead proposing $10 sticker-fee increases for smaller cars and only $15 increases for larger vehicles.
Emanuel will submit the formal amendments to his budget plan on Monday.
