When it comes to funding public services sustainably, doing the right thing is not only difficult, it can really make folks angry. For proof, look no further than Mayor Brandon Johnson’s latest budget address. Chicago was facing an estimated deficit of $982 million in its corporate fund next year… Generating new recurring revenue is never popular, but in this case, it was needed.” (Robert Martire/ Chicago Sun-Times/ Emphasis mine)
Ralph Martire is executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, a nonpartisan supposed fiscal policy think tank. Raising property taxes is not the right thing to do. Martire is one of those people who never met a tax or tax increase he did not love.
The property tax increase is not right. It is not needed. Martire does not care about the severe negative impact another property tax increase will have across the city. He also proposes a tax on services, which is another one of his bone headed ideas. Chicagoans are being taxed to death.
What if the Chicago Board of Education approves a property tax increase to fund the teacher’s new contract? What if the Park District wants a property tax increase to balance their budgets? Chicagoans will be hit with a triple-whammy disaster.
An increase in the property tax is not the right thing to do nor is it needed. When Jane Byrne was mayor, she faced a budget crisis. She demanded that all city departments cut 10% of their budgets across the board. She sold off city properties, raised some taxes, and instituted a bad idea, the head tax on large companies. It took decades before that disaster was repealed.
The ten percent budget cuts did not affect city services, especially in public safety. There were other impacts because many of the budget cuts were in the departments’ goods, services, supplies, and other assorted services provided to the city. Vendors were squeezed to get better terms for their wares and services, If the department heads did not achieve the 10% target, they would face layoffs.
Public safety was not affected nor were any other essential public services. At worst, many services took longer to perform, and other plans were deferred until the finances were available.
What will affect public safety are the numbers of police officers retiring every month and the many young police officers transferring to suburban or other police departments. They must be replaced. The numbers are greater than the positions the mayor is eliminating. Mayor Johnson was a promoter of defunding the police until he was against it when he decided to run for mayor. He still is but will deny it vociferously.
Several alders will not take a pay raise next year. Washington is taking the raise. He is a cheapskate, chiseler, and hypocrite. Instead of leading by example, Johnson is taking the raise. He is grabbing all he can. In a time of austerity, His wife’s ceremonial office was redecorated to the tune of $80,000, a waste of money. There is no skimping when it comes to the mayor. There will be no cuts to his office budget or his lifestyle. We will pay dearly for it.
Many alders are saying they will vote no on the mayor’s budget unless he brings back the ShotSpotter system or replaces it with similar technology. It is possible the mayor’s budget will be dead on arrival, and he may have to start from scratch to get a budget passed before the December 31st deadline. His delayed budget talks with the City Council did not help.
Mayor Brandon Johnson created and continues to be a public relations chaos and governance nightmare. He does not care about people. He does not care about the city. He does not care about the business community, especially small and midsized businesses. Johnson only cares about himself.
Johnson is turning taxation in Chicago to grand theft. Steal from all of us to pay for his extravagant pie in the sky with a gilded cherry on top agenda. That agenda helps no one but himself and the cronies and lickspittles he hired or refuses to let go.
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