By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
“As mayor, I will not raise property taxes.“ That was a key message Brandon Johnson made during his run for Chicago mayor. Now less than two months since he assumed power, the Chicago Public Schools board is set to hike property taxes by 5 percent and there’s no pushback whatsoever from Mayor Johnson. (A Chicago mayor has authority over CPS via the power to appoint the school board.)*
We can’t make predictions, but given the city’s current developing crises, Johnson’s spending promises and his dependence on the state to get various tax hikes passed, count on this tax property tax hike to be the first of many.
Johnson has already given his excuse for why he’s not opposing the CPS tax hike: the current CPS board members aren’t his appointees. “Johnson’s senior adviser Jason Lee portrayed the new mayor as powerless to stop the ‘tax-to-the-max’ increase,” reported ABC7 Chicago.
But Johnson could be using the bully pulpit and his political capital to rail against any property tax increases by the board. He could even demand the resignations of those board members who vote for the tax hike. But he won’t and he hasn’t. It’s hard to imagine him turning down more money for the CTU and all its members.
Chicagoans are already overburdened
Pressure has already been mounting on Chicagoans in recent years. Mayor Rahm Emanuel passed record property tax hikes under his watch and then Mayor Lightfoot continued them. Not only that, but she also added a feature that makes annual tax increases automatic, based on levels of inflation.
That’s pushed up property taxes over the last decade at nearly 2.5 times the rate of inflation – 6 percent annually vs. an average yearly inflation rate of 2.4 percent.
Residential property taxes have grown from the 18th-highest among the nation’s big cities to the 13th. The median effective tax on homeowners is now 1.57 percent, according to a study by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
That’s recently left many Chicago residents furious, in particular many in the Hispanic community of Pilsen where tax bills are up nearly 50 percent, as reported by WGN.
Unsurprisingly, higher property taxes have served to undermine the value of homes in Chicago, stripping residents of growth in the equity of their homes. We’ve reported in the past on just how far behind Chicago home values have been relative to those of residents in the country’s largest cities.
Chicago’s businesses have it even worse. They’re forced to pay the 2nd-highest effective rates in the nation, no matter if their property is worth $100,000, $1 million or $25 million.
Johnson said he would avoid property tax hikes in his pursuit of some additional $800 million in new spending for the city, but it will be difficult if you review a recent analysis by the Civic Federation. It looked at the various tax categories that Johnson wants to pursue and found that most of them have to be passed by the state legislature.
His proposals for a commuter tax, a local income tax, a financial transaction tax, an expanded sales tax, a graduated real estate transfer tax, a tax on retirement income, all require authorization by the statehouse. Which leaves just property taxes as the main source of money for Johnson’s ambitions.
Then there’s the potential for the city’s downtown to enter into a “doom loop” – that’s when workers don’t return in full force, where offices remain half-empty, where restaurants shutter, transit agencies go bankrupt, tax bases plummet, and public services disappear.”
Though it’s impossible to measure the likelihood of that scenario, a doom loop would shrink other forms of revenue, forcing the city to rely even more heavily on residential property taxes.
We recently analyzed the ugly case where commercial property values in the city fall 50 percent and stay there for a few years. The median residential home owner would see a property tax hike of 22 percent, or $891, under that scenario. See the details here.
Higher taxes, for what?
All of the above doesn’t even take into account the city’s and the school district’s main fiscal problem, namely pensions, that will put a strain on finances in the coming years. Rising crime, a shrinking population and collapsing education outcomes are also adding to the pressure.
That last point – the district’s ongoing failure to educate students despite its ever-growing funding – is just one of the reasons why Chicago Public Schools doesn’t deserve another penny from its residents. We’ll tackle all that in Part 2.
*A new law expands the size of the board from seven members to 21 and for two years starting in January 2025, the board will be a mix of elected and appointed members. In January 2027, it will be fully elected.
Read more from Wirepoints:
- No, Mr. Martinez, your excuses for Chicago Public Schools’ failure to educate children don’t hold up
- 38% jump in Chicago crime during Mayor Johnson’s first month
- Chicago Public Schools fails its Hispanic students: Only 17 of every 100 read at grade level.
- Chicago’s commercial ‘doom-loop’ could result in a property tax hike on homeowners as large as 22%
Ted was on The Chicago Way with John Kass and Jeff Carlin to discuss the proposed $5 billion lakefront stadium project proposed by the Chicago Bears & Mayor Brandon Johnson, why Chicago is struggling compared to other metro areas across the country, why the city might or might not go the way of Detroit, and more.
Some Illinois lawmakers continue to deny that covid aid and other federal stimulus bailed the state out of its fiscal mess. But a look at past and projected revenues from COGFA shows just how much the bailouts blew out the state’s revenues. And now that they’re over, how much harder it will be for Illinois revenues to grow.
Election integrity – both real and perceived – is essential to government’s legitimacy and stability. Illinois, like the rest of the nation, better fix its problems now.
Ted joined Dan and Amy to talk about Chicago’s latest bond offering, why Chicago’s dismal home value growth is due to poor policies, the next $70 million to be spent on migrants, the 9% salary hikes demanded by the CTU, and why Illinois lawmakers voting to stop Chicago’s selective enrollment schools from being closed is hypocritical.
Weekly crime statistics from the Chicago Police Department: Report through 4/21/2024.
98% of the time a Dem moves their lips they are lying.
Until BJ can figure out how to tax White poeple for being white he will simply rely on outrageous property taxes on all.
His forthcoming onerous and punitive suburban commuter tax on incomes greater than $50k a year – only on the C&NW and BNSF lines from the N and NW of the city – will be a proxy for a tax on white people. He’ll make up some excuse why he the tax applies to Glencoe but not Glenwood… It’ll be years before its overturned in the courts, if at all. Remember, the communist doesn’t care about the constitution. Last I checked, those of us that didn’t lose our rifles last year in that terrible Wirepoints gathering turned boating accident, off Door… Read more »
If he can he will make that happen and drive the business community and residents out. Repeat of 30 years straight of Mayor Coleman Young in Detroit. That’s why for almost 60 years it was a tale of two cities. Layer in the problem with Illinois itself and it really is no place to raise your family, retire, work, or live. So many other choices. I am fine with 79th street being a black mecca of culture and history, food, business, go ahead make it happen. I am waiting. Grandma went to Hirsch and Grandfather went to Tilden. If you… Read more »
When politicians run for Office, Democrats or Republicans, they all lie to get your vote. That is a proven fact over and over again. That’s why we all end up voting for the lesser of two evils. In this case, the people of Chicago voted for “plain evil” they didn’t even consider the lesser of the two. Yes, your real estate taxes will go up. BUT, so will all your other expenses. Everyone at CTU has to make more money than you suckers do. They’re laughing at you.
None of Chicago’s problems will be mitigated or solved, rather they will be compounded by the ‘elected’ officials. This is what people in Chicago want – to aspire to Detroit.
It’s not difficult to understand. Brandon and the CTU and other city unions are looting the treasury. Unionized city workers have it good already by most objective standards, and now that they have their guy in charge, it’s time to let the looting begin. Of course, the looting is couched in terms of ‘workers rights’ and ‘workers protections’ but no one really believes any of that. They just want to get the goods while the gettin’ is good because union benefits are never cut, and city’s only way through tough financial times is to layoff junior unionize workers while keeping… Read more »
** layoff junior unionized workers and retired workers**. They are only a drain on money the leaders aim to put in their own pockets.
Every time there are layoffs or budget cutting. The union allows junior members to be sacrificed for the benefit of senior members. The junior members get screwed. Always. Even with Tier II pensions. They get screwed, while the senior members own boats in Punta ….. you get the gist!
Politicians are like alcoholics. An alcoholic always wants more booze and a politician always wants more money. Neither comes to a good end when they have large supplies of it.
Well, Chicago people voted for it so they must want it this way
Elections have consequences! No doubt!
BJ The Race Clown Wants To Rob Taxpayers To Line The Pockets Of CTU
In very short time-frame, Johnson has proven that he is puppet of CTU, and concerned only by priorities of CTU lobbyists. Enormous disappointment to his north-side middle-class voters. Sadly, validation for those north-side middle-class taxpayers who didn’t vote for him.
Chicago is in terrible shape. New “leadership” is largely absent in this new administration. Mouthing of progressive rhetoric, rote excuses for festering problems, and “open checkbook” for CTU union members.
How many shootings occurred during past wet weekend? How many muggings? How many car-jackings? How many more taxpayers will list their Chicago property for sale this week?
“ I didn’t raise taxes, I let my associates do it! But I didn’t do it!”. Such are the lies and doublespeak Chicago voted for. Enjoy yourself.
When do second half tax bills come?
They are supposed to go out July 1 for an August 1 due date but due to the incompetence of the Asssessor’s Office and Larry Rogers of the Board of Review playing politics to make Kaegi look bad it is looking like they will go out September 1 for an October 1 due date.
Mayor BJ is controlled by his masters the CTU.
He is their SHEEPLE!!
Some of the highest cost per student education, near the bottom results and they want more money. Money is the problem, never enough for salaries, benefits, and pensions for nonproductive workers. This whole thing is a large theft of taxpayer money and of the future of students who just get pushed through the CPS and have zero job skills. Crime is only going to get worse, as this is the only skill they know.
Did anyone who voted for this guy honestly think that BJ’s goodie list was going to be funded by everyone else? He didn’t wait long to press the one tax button he could control. Perhaps he already knows that Pritzker’s career ambition stands in the way of raising those other state-authorized taxes on the list. To climb that $800 million wall of promises, he needed to start right away. Elections have consequences, Chicago.
Why in the world would dems choose Chicago for their convention?
They choose Chicago precisely because you, deplorable, believe it is the dumbest decision ever. They don’t respect your opinion on anything. Trump broke them, they are not rational, or sane, or logical anymore. Their craziness has no bounds, and there are 81,000,000 ballots counted to back their insanity.
Because Chicago and Illinois are the biggest violators of the constitution, the tip of the enemy spear in the heart of our country, and the front line in the battleground waged by the communists. Yes, that means it’s working
Bidens scheduled to make major economic policy speech in Chicago this week. The dems and some reps bailed out private sec pensions w ‘multi-state’ funding deal. Maybe Biden will announce some kind of similar fed funding deal for state public sec pensions knowing it will be shot down in Congress but will be great for 24 run and Chicago dem convention
JUST WATCH HIM TRIP AND DROOL
The gist of Biden’s drivel “ Goodnight! You’re taller and started wearing glasses, haven’t you mayor Lightfoot? God save the Queen!”.
What do you all think will happen to the city crime rate when the Democratic Convention is in Chicago?
CAN’T WAIT TO SEE
Lightfoot v2.0 will put up a candyland that will rival the illusion concocted for Russian royals touring villages in the 18th century .