Posted by John Byrne at 4 p.m.
Mayor Richard Daley and his wife saw their income fall for the third straight year in 2009, according to tax returns released this afternoon by the mayor’s office.
The Daleys’ net income for last year was $175,240. That’s down from $183,992 in 2008, $238,190 in 2007 and $363,647 in 2006.
The majority of their 2009 income came from the mayor’s salary, plus about $11,500 earned on investments.
Daley took 15 unpaid days off last year, which cut his gross pay by $8,883, about 4 percent of his city budgeted $216,210 salary, spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard said. The unpaid days were six furlough days, three government shutdown days and six unpaid holidays.
The mayor has said he plans to take 29 unpaid days this year. Non-union city workers are taking 24 unpaid days off this year as Daley tries to balance the city budget during a recession.
Daley also deferred $38,874 toward retirement savings and about $1,787 toward health benefits, leaving Daley with a net income from the city of $166,667.
Daley and his wife, Maggie, claimed a $3,000 capital gains tax credit — the maximum allowed — after selling investments at an unspecified loss. Heard declined to provide specifics on what investments they sold.
Maggie Daley stopped working in 2007, which has played a role in the couple’s diminishing income. She had been paid $50,000 in 2007 and $100,000 in 2006 as a consultant for the Academy of Achievement, a Washington-based non-profit, scouting locations for the academy’s annual conferences of outstanding graduate students.
Property taxes on the couple’s South Loop home were $13,640 in 2009, up from $13,175 in 2008. Taxes on their Michigan vacation home went up to $20,871 from $20,137 the year before, Heard said.
The Daleys reported charitable donations of $8,070, down from $11,000 in 2008.
The couple is eligible for tax refunds of $7,779 from the federal government and $561 from the state.
Though there is no requirement that he disclose his tax returns, Daley typically does each year. Reporters are given an opportunity to see tax documents shortly before the April 15 filing deadline, but are not allowed to keep copies of the returns.