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Crain’s estimates the higher levy would add about $158 million a year to the cost of buying homes or commercial property worth $1 million or more. But real estate interests have been largely silent as a proposal to fund homelessness-fighting programs by nearly tripling the transfer tax on pricey Chicago properties gains momentum.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Chicago Wants A New Tax 200 Pct Tax Hike On Homes — A Tax That Would Drive Even More People To Leave, Avoid Chicago