Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson thought he had the solution to the self-imposed immigration problems plaguing Chicago. Naturally, it wasn’t to ask the voters to end the sanctuary city status as so many outraged Chicagoans have suggested. It wasn’t even to pass the buck on to another city or even the suburbs. Instead, he proposed the people of Chicago pay more in taxes.
The vote was held on March 19th. Neither Johnson nor elected officials were willing to release the findings, with the Associated Press forcing their hand by announcing them on their own on March 22nd. With 46.8% voting in favor of the measure and 53.2% voting against it, this is a major embarrassment for Johnson.
Titled the “Bring Chicago Home” tax, it would have seen transfer levies on real estate sales over $1 million skyrocket. Raising an estimated $100 million per year, the revenue would have been significant. Currently, the city uses a 0.75% tax on all property sales. Had this passed, it would have seen sub-$1 million pieces be taxed at a 0.6% rate. Then, anything $1 million to $1.5 million would be taxed at 2%, and over $1.5 million taxed at 3%.
Funds collected from this surge in taxes would be shoved into homeless services for the city’s roughly 68,000 homeless. LA and Santa Fe, NM, have passed similar ordinances, and we see how well things are going there. Given how much commercial businesses are suffering since COVID, this would have directly impacted multiple industries across the city. In turn, many would opt to relocate outside the city limits or possibly to new states entirely.
The city has already seen how horribly Johnson has failed to tackle its homeless problems or find a way to stop or even slow the stream of illegals coming to The Windy City daily. Simply, they don’t trust his judgment or how he has spent the money. Multiple accusations of embezzlement and illegal dealings have been heard across the city, but nothing has stuck so far.
