Chicago voters will soon decide on a proposal to raise a one-time tax on luxury properties to fund services for homeless people.
State appeals court judges cleared the way for the measure to be on the March 19 ballot after overturning a previous rejection from a Cook County judge late last month. Moreover, with early voting already starting, all votes will count.
If approved, the measure would increase the city’s real estate transfer tax on properties valued over $1 million, with proceeds funding services for homeless persons like mental health care and job training.
“As we have said from the beginning and as the Appellate Court agreed today, this was always a question wisely left to the voters of Chicago. I am pleased that Chicagoans will have the opportunity to weigh in on Bring Chicago Home, which is intended to provide a dedicated revenue source to combat homelessness,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson, who has championed this measure.
Supporters of the Bring Chicago Home measure estimate it would generate $100 million annually for those services.
Maxica Williams, Chair of the End Homelessness Ballot Initiative Committee and Board President of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, issued a statement, adding, “Our longstanding coalition of policy advocates, service providers, labor unions, and homeless and formerly homeless people commend the judges of the First District Appellate Court for dismissing the real estate lobby’s effort to invalidate Ballot Question 1. We look forward to keeping up our efforts to reach hundreds of thousands of voters about their opportunity to vote yes for a fair and sustainable plan to fund housing, care for the homeless, and ask wealthy real estate corporations to pay their fair share.”
Real estate groups predominantly oppose Bring Chicago Home, contending that the measure unfairly discriminates against commercial properties, particularly as the city’s downtown continues to navigate the repercussions of the pandemic-induced downturn. They also believe that passage of this measure would do harm to parties beyond commercial property owners.
The Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago stated, “We are disappointed in the outcome of this case but felt it was important to challenge this misleading and manipulative referendum question. This massive tax increase would hurt homeowners, renters, union workers, and businesses throughout the neighborhoods. Even worse, a yes vote on this referendum is a vote to deliver huge blank checks to the City with no plan for how millions will be accountably spent. We have already ramped up our efforts to educate the public about the negative impacts of this tax increase.”
The Associated Press and ABC7 Chicago contributed to this report.
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