More Money Gone

You know it's cheaper to pay coppers overtime than to actually hire coppers, right?

We imagine it must be cheaper to pay out damage complaints to motorists than actually fix the roads:

• Chicago motorists filed 5,179 vehicle damage claims “specific to potholes” this year — an avalanche twice as large as the last four years combined — thanks to the road remnants of a brutal winter that wouldn’t quit, the city clerk disclosed Tuesday.
  
  The cost to Chicago taxpayers won’t be known for years. That’s how long it takes for individual claims to be processed by the City Council’s Finance Committee.
  
  But judging from the $387,928 paid out from Jan. 1 through Oct. 8 to 1,302 motorists whose vehicles were damaged as far back as 2008, the pricetag could be staggering.

And the city isn't paying these claims in anything like a timely manner - you'll see your money after a year, maybe two.

In the meantime, if you buy a new car, you'll get taxed so Rahm wins. If you go to a local auto mechanic, you'll pay a city tax. If your really unlucky, you'll end up paying a city tow at some point for extensive damage. Rahm's winning and your paying.