Crack's in Chicago's Sidewalk Program

The Chicago-Sun Times reports on how Chicago has lied for years:

The City of Chicago has quietly overcharged thousands of homeowners who agreed to pay half the cost of replacing their walkways under the city's popular 50/50 Sidewalk Program, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

For more than 40 years, the city has been telling homeowners it will evenly split the cost with them on new sidewalks. But most homeowners end up paying more, sometimes much more than half, according to city records over the last three years.

Other homeowners, however, were charged less than 10 percent. Some of those fortunate homeowners have clout or political connections.

Homeowners who were charged more than 50 percent -- some by a few hundred dollars -- had no idea because the city makes them pay upfront but never tells them the final cost of the job.

Who's looking when you have a monopoly? Public property is a bad idea.