Here Comes the Pain

Strap in for a whole bunch of BS:

• Chicago property owners reeling from reassessments will be hit with a double whammy — a $300 million property tax increase — to help Mayor Brandon Johnson balance his $17.3 billion budget for 2025 without layoffs.

  Johnson chose the property tax increase he campaigned against — and made it the city’s largest in a decade — instead of asking unionized city employees to give a little by accepting mandatory furlough days or targeted layoffs.

  Wednesday afternoon, the mayor’s office released estimates of the impact of the tax increase on homeowners. It ranges from $72 a year for a home valued at $100,000 to $481 per year for a home valued at $500,000.

About fourteen aldercreatures have already said they'll vote against the budget if it doesn't include reinstating the ShotSpotter program. A few more said the elimination of 400 unfilled CPD vacancies is not acceptable, seeing as how crime isn't really down. And even more will have further demands to buy their votes.

Conehead swore up and down that a property tax hike wasn't in the cards, but it this proposal turns out to be the largest single property tax increase in history. His approval rating now stands at 14%.

Nothing about closing under utilized schools and perhaps selling the land to developers, especially amid declining enrollment as more families flee the city. CPS raised their share of property taxes another $324 million over two years - the maximum allowable by law. Funny how they never aim lower....they just max it out every single time and find something to spend the money on....like huge fully staffed buildings with sixty students.