Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s announcement of a $300 million property tax hike in the city comes hard on the heels of a major increase in property taxes due to reassessment. Christian Piekos, Craig Wall, Mark Rivera, and Eric Horng report at ABC 7 Chicago:
CHICAGO (WLS) — Mayor Brandon Johnson said he plans to raise property taxes next year, walking back a major campaign promise as the city faces a nearly $1 billion budget deficit.
In a Wednesday morning City Council meeting, the mayor unveiled a budget proposal that includes a property tax hike of $300 million, as well as eliminating more than 700 vacant positions. More than half of those vacant positions are from the Chicago Police Department.
At WBEZ Chicago Mariah Woelfel and Tessa Weinberg report:
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is pitching a $17.3 billion budget that avoids layoffs but relies on a massive $300 million property tax increase to close the city’s 2025 budget gap.
The budget proposal — Johnson’s second — marks a major flip-flop on his cornerstone campaign promise to not raise property taxes on Chicago homeowners, and comes on the heels of what the mayor’s office said was an “excruciating process” to close the gap.
I continue to wonder what those who voted for Johnson expected him to do. He’s doing exactly what I expected him to do—spending lavishly on himself (the City just spent $80,000 remodeling an office for his wife) and doing whatever the CTU wants him to do.
To place this in some perspective here are some comparative property taxes in major U. S. cities from the Civic Federation:
and there’s a rundown of city sales taxes from the Tax Foundation:
Houston’s sales tax ranks 80th or so. There is no city or state income tax in Houston.
Said another way we are taxed punitively here. Why? Corruption and mismanagement.
If you wanted an honest green eyeshades-type who would fix the City’s bloated budget, you should have voted for Paul Vallas. Also just to correct one of Mayor Johnson’s many items of misinformation property taxes are not a “tax on the rich”. They are a highly regressive form of taxation. Even renters pay property tax in the form of increased rent.
I recently read that in my city 62% of property in city limits is exempt from property taxes because it’s owned by the government or not-for-profits like hospitals, schools or colleges. I didn’t understand that to include TIF districts, which raise property taxes, but distribute them to enhance facilities in the district, keeping that money out of general revenue. I wonder how much property tax rates go up because the base keeps shrinking.
In 1950, Chicago’s population peaked at 3.6 M. It is now 2.6 M, and declining at a rate of 1% per year. Of course, this is not unusual; many cities peaked around 1950, and have declined since. Almost all American cities have also had a sharp decline in manufacturing. But the loss in population combined with the transition to low wage, low tax revenue service economies puts enormous strains on city finances.
Then there is the visible decline in the quality of life in our cities, San Francisco and Detroit being infamous examples, with rampant crime, organized looting, homeless people, drugs, random drive-by killings…
One has to wonder if any American city has a viable future, or are we on an unstoppable descent into Third World status. Look up M13 and Tren de Aragua.
PS. The small rural town I live in in north central Ohio has two homeless camps, which have become so dangerous that only police can enter them, and then only in force.
Chicago’s population is declining; it was a century ago when it had as low a population as it does now.
Its expenses are increasing on an absolute but more importantly on a per capita basis.
If City Hall doesn’t adjust its thinking to that reality, the decline will accelerate.
In response to your postscript bob sykes, I have a homeless encampment about a mile from where I’m sitting. It wasn’t there a year ago. It’s in Gompers Park in the center of a nice middle class neighborhood. Basically, that means I can’t walk my dog south more than a half mile. If it overflows into increased crime, my wife and I will have a decision to make. IMO these encampments are political failures rather than economic ones.
Dave, where have you been?? Of course this is political, except for the humans who must endure, the rich got richer, those who didn’t got kicked out on the streets!!!
Doing a little housing affordability study of my own.
Fifty years ago, one bedroom efficiency apartments could be had for $60./mo.
Utility’s included . That was 15 times the prevailing hourly wage for an unskilled worker, $2.
Today, the wage is $18. Nine X.
9X60= $540.
But actual rents for the same apartment run $1500./ month plus utilities.
Apartment construction is big business and so with housing development, low $300’s considered affordable housing.
For many people the solution is commution. But it’s a 50 mile drive.
I’m not suggesting rent control, but maybe relaxation of building codes so truly affordable housing can be possible for the 90% who serve the 10%.