Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Why Does Chicago's Mayor Disclose More Than Indianapolis' Mayor?

It should be an issue with which the Indianapolis Star editors concern themselves, but it isn't. Why do Chicagoans get greater public disclosure from their mayor on his personal finances than the mayor of Indianapolis offers the public here? Former Star reporter Bill Ruthhart, who now works for the Chicago Tribune, reports on the first tax returns released by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel since taking office.

Emanuel released his 2012 tax return showing that he earned $409,000 last year, including $204,000 from his salary as mayor and $158,000 in dividend investment income from a JP Morgan investment fund and Golub Capital Partners VII, LP. He paid more than $77,000 in taxes, or about 21% of his adjusted gross income of $373,000. Emanuel also released five years of tax returns when he first ran for mayor in 2010. Emanuel made most of his money between a stint in the Clinton White House and serving as a member of Congress when he earned more than $16 million as an investment banker, even though he never had any prior investment banking experience. Go figure.

So why won't Greg Ballard release his tax returns?

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