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Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Chicago’s largest and grandest hotels are reawakening from a pandemic-induced slumber. But they’ll apparently have to wait for the financial relief they need to fully reopen, even if occupancy rates rise and the demand for rooms is there.
Michael Jacobson, president and CEO of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, has been told he’ll have to wait until late summer to find out whether Mayor Lori Lightfoot will grant his request for a hotel-only version of the Payroll Protection Program that helped restaurants survive the pandemic.
But Lightfoot isn’t ready to decide. She’s still waiting for final federal guidance on the preliminary edict that no new stimulus money can be used to cancel plans to refinance some city debt.
That pushes off the debt at an up-front cost of $468,000.
“During the most recent legislative session, the City worked closely with the ISFA board as well as the Governor’s office to grant ISFA much-needed refinancing authority and appropriate up to $20 million to address the [2021 fiscal year] shortfall resulting from the precipitous decline in hotel tax revenues during the pandemic that is projected to impact the City’s budget in [the 2021 fiscal year] and beyond,” Chicago’s Chief Financial Officer Jennie Huang Bennett was quoted as saying in a statement.
“Over the course of the pandemic, hotel tax revenues declined 75-90%, creating a one-time, once in a century event that required this adjustment. We appreciate the collaboration from all involved to make this a reality.”