Emanuel Says He's Cut Budget Shortfall In Half
CHICAGO (CBS) -- As he prepares to unveil his preliminary 2013 budget today, Mayor Rahm Emanuel says he's managed to cut the projected deficit in half.
However, the mayor says, "Our work is not done."
Emanuel says instead of a $741 million shortfall, he's whittled it down to about half that. His office estimates the shortfall now at $369 million, the lowest since 2009.
The mayor said the reduction comes not through "one-time fixes," but through aggressive and structural cost-cutting.
As an example, the mayor on Monday pointed to his switch on garbage collection, from a ward-based system to a grid-based system.
"We see $15-20 million of savings in the way we collect garbage. Ultimately I want to see $60 million. Why? Because we're going to go from an old political system, collecting garbage by the ward map, to one by the way FedEx and UPS work, by efficiencies," Emanuel said.
The mayor is reminding ordinary citizens they can go online to submit ideas for saving taxpayer money through the website, chicagobudget.org.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Regine Schlesinger reports
