Way to go, Democrats!!!
Chicago residents face ‘perfect storm’ of tax hikes
Chicago already is one of the most expensive cities in the world -- No. 7, according to a report by financial firm UBS.
But the cost of living soon could rise even more, if Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel gets his way.
The Windy City mayor is pushing a $500 million property tax increase, the largest in the city's history, as a way to balance an almost $700 million deficit.
On top of that, surrounding Cook County just raised the sales tax to the highest in the nation, at 10.25 percent, while considering a hodgepodge of other fees. And the state of Illinois faces its own budget crisis, and will likely need to raise taxes to get out of it.
"There is almost a perfect storm of tax increases coming forward in Chicago," said Laurence Msall of the Civic Federation. "And people who live in the city are in a state of shock."
Chicago's financial mess is the result of decades of delaying or ignoring obligations like pension funds for city employees, as well as borrowing to pay for operating expenses and spending more than it had taken in for several years in a row.
Blame it on former Mayor Richard Daley's administration, says Crain's Chicago Business. Emanuel inherited a mess years in the making, though has taken longer than expected to begin to work a way out of it.
"We are certainly now paying the price for bad decisions that have been many years in the making," Crain's reporter Tom Corfman said.
Chicago residents face ‘perfect storm’ of tax hikes
Chicago already is one of the most expensive cities in the world -- No. 7, according to a report by financial firm UBS.
But the cost of living soon could rise even more, if Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel gets his way.
The Windy City mayor is pushing a $500 million property tax increase, the largest in the city's history, as a way to balance an almost $700 million deficit.
On top of that, surrounding Cook County just raised the sales tax to the highest in the nation, at 10.25 percent, while considering a hodgepodge of other fees. And the state of Illinois faces its own budget crisis, and will likely need to raise taxes to get out of it.
"There is almost a perfect storm of tax increases coming forward in Chicago," said Laurence Msall of the Civic Federation. "And people who live in the city are in a state of shock."
Chicago's financial mess is the result of decades of delaying or ignoring obligations like pension funds for city employees, as well as borrowing to pay for operating expenses and spending more than it had taken in for several years in a row.
Blame it on former Mayor Richard Daley's administration, says Crain's Chicago Business. Emanuel inherited a mess years in the making, though has taken longer than expected to begin to work a way out of it.
"We are certainly now paying the price for bad decisions that have been many years in the making," Crain's reporter Tom Corfman said.
