Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter urged City Council members on Friday to not rule out a property tax increase, arguing that there are ways to protect Black homeowners hit hardest by what he called “out of whack assessments.”
Reiter acknowledged that he urged alderpersons before Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Oct. 16 budget address to avoid layoffs and furlough days that would impact his members, and steered them instead toward a property tax increase.
“We did not lay down the gauntlet and say that property taxes had to be the absolute… But what we did talk about is how other municipalities around Chicago have a larger tax levy than the city does and they fund government less through smaller revenue-drivers and more through their property tax levy,” Reiter told the Sun-Times.
“If alders were pursuing a property tax option — which can range from CPI to a larger catch-up to how far behind Chicago has fallen on their tax levy — we could be there to support them. I’d want to be there to support them and I would be there to support them.”
Since Johnson’s budget address, the political climate has changed dramatically.
Property tax bills arrived in Chicago mailboxes months late because of an overhaul of the county’s property tax computer system. And a study by the Cook County treasurer’s office showed the biggest increases hit predominantly Black neighborhoods on the South and West sides as the county tax burden shifts away from the economically depressed Loop.
That makes it more difficult politically for Council members to turn to the biggest and most stable source of revenue available to the city, just over a year before the 2027 mayoral and aldermanic elections. Even so, Reiter said a property tax increase should not be ruled out.
“There’s things you can do to address that if you were to do a property tax increase. … Is there a way we can relieve property tax stress from hardworking Chicagoans — Black and Latino [homeowners] who … got penalized on their tax bills this weekend and still look at revenue policy that can move us forward?” he asked.
Reiter pointed to the $1.5 billion bill he helped to craft and pass to rescue the future of mass transit in Illinois.
“We can do the same things and put in bumpers and guardrails to protect people, to protect people’s escalating property tax rates while looking at how we’re funding city services through property taxes and other revenue options,” he said. Reiter did not elaborate on what those protective measures could entail.
Earlier this week, the Council’s Finance Committee rejected Johnson’s $600 million tax plan to, as he put it, “challenge the ultra-rich and corporations to pay their fair share.”
The die was cast for Johnson to lose control over a budget process dictated by Chicago mayors for decades when Finance Chair and 3rd Ward Ald. Pat Dowell declared her opposition to a corporate head tax “at any level.”
Since then, a small group of the more conservative and moderate alderpersons have been working to craft their own revenue-generating and cost-cutting package that does not include a corporate head tax.
Their proposed revenue mix includes 36th Ward Ald Gilbert Villegas’ proposal to charge residents and businesses $1.25 for every package they have delivered.
They’re also talking about a broader congestion fee, slot machines at O’Hare and Midway airports, parking tax changes, and allowing liquor stores to open earlier on Sundays.
Reiter said he finds the delivery fee “very compelling.” He agreed with Villegas that consumers determined to avoid the tax could shop at brick-and-mortar stores.
“I like ideas that promote policies that drive money back into local businesses,” Reiter said.
Earlier this week, 19th Ward Ald. Matt O’Shea told the City Club of Chicago that the city needs to look for internal cuts before raising taxes of any kind, adding, “I’m going to say something uncomfortable. Labor needs to be at the table.”
Reiter countered Friday that labor has been and still is at the table. He noted that he co-chairs a committee of city officials and organized labor that’s been working to “keep health care inflation down.” But the committee hasn’t met consistently for a number of years.
“I can’t do it without a dance partner,” he said.