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* Crain’s takes a look at Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed $500 million property tax hike…
If the huge increase were in place now, Chicago’s average composite property tax rate—which includes all government agencies, such as the county, schools and libraries—would be lower than all but five suburbs in Cook County. The tax rate is just one factor in determining a property owner’s tax bill, which also is affected by changes in real estate values.
Three of the five municipalities with lowest tax rates are in the northwest suburbs: Barrington, which has the lowest rate, South Barrington and Inverness.
Downtown Chicago, which has a higher tax rate than the rest of the city, would have the 15th-lowest tax rate in the county. Communities that would have lower tax rates than the city center include Prospect Heights, Willow Springs and Winnetka. […]
(E)ven with such a large increase, the city’s tax rate still would be slightly less than it was in 1996, according to clerk’s office records.
* But… and this is a major “but”…
Chicago already has the highest commercial real estate taxes of any major city in the nation except New York, said developer Steven Fifield. Builders and commercial property owners put much more emphasis on actual tax bills, which will climb, than tax rates, he said.
The tax hike, combined with other factors such as rising construction costs and climbing land prices, likely will cause a slowdown in new construction projects, particularly apartment buildings, said Fifield, chairman and CEO of Chicago-based Fifield Cos.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 1:20 pm
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Has the Governor opined on this proposal? The Mayor’s push for this property tax hike sort of runs counter to Rauner’s desire to freeze property taxes. His opinion and whether or not ILGO springs into action in the City against Democratic Aldermen will be very interesting.
Comment by Captain America Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 1:39 pm
==The tax hike, combined with other factors such as rising construction costs and climbing land prices, likely will cause a slowdown in new construction projects, particularly apartment buildings==
If the demand is there for the targeted consumers, the building will continue.
Comment by Precinct Captain Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 1:49 pm
==would have the 15th-lowest tax rate in the county == the city’s tax rate still would be slightly less than it was in 1996==
Chicago’s mayors have kicked this can down the road for decades. Rahm now has to do what the Daleys did not, and the tax rate will remain less than most of Cook County.
A bargain for residents of that ==global city==.
Comment by Formerly Known As... Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 1:52 pm
The Chicago Public Schools is asking the GA for the State of Illinois to provide hundreds of millions of dollars to close a large budget hole for CPS for next year. This is happening at a time when the State itself is facing a serious pension funding problem. In my opinion the CPS should ask the GA for an exemption from the property tax increase limitation law. With the property tax increase Mayor Rahm Emanuel is seeking plus the hundreds of millions the CPS should be seeking, the property tax payers of Chicago will still have tax rates that are well below the tax rates of most of the rest of Cook County.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 1:55 pm
1. The building owners were among the major backers of Daley and Emanuel whose can kicking has precipitated the need for such a large increase.
2. They have been the beneficiaries of all kinds of tax breaks to lure them downtown.
3. They suck up a lot of city services.Snow gets cleared there first. Walk up the Magnificent Mile on many evenings and see two cops at every corner.
4. Judging by their campaign contributions, they have plenty of money to toss around. Better it go to public safety and libraries than to politicians who want to cut those services for the rest of the City.
5. If they move to Indianapolis or to Milwaukee, they will be paying a higher income tax rate than they are paying here.
6.CME, for one, can afford to give a piece of that $85 million a year they squeezed out of the State back to the City
Comment by Truthteller Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 2:06 pm
=== If the huge increase were in place now, Chicago’s average composite property tax rate—which includes all government agencies, such as the county, schools and libraries—would be lower than all but five suburbs in Cook County. ===
But yet, most Chicago residents are outraged at the prospect of Rahm’s property tax hike. This type of mentality is the number one reason why the City, County & State are experiencing such fiscal turmoil - Everybody wants the services, but nobody wants to pay for them.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 2:23 pm
==Chicago already has the highest commercial real estate taxes of any major city in the nation except New York==
But haven’t we been told that Madigan’s law firm under-assesses downtown properties and that businesses aren’t paying their fair share in property taxes?
So are businesses paying too much or too little?
Comment by nixit71 Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 2:44 pm
But other parts of Cook County (suburbs) have great public schools, so my real estate tax bill is not low when you add to it the private school tuition I have to pay since I wouldn’t send my kids to my neighborhood high school and can’t get them into any selective enrollment high school…
Comment by 32nd Ward Roscoe Village Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 3:10 pm
Raising taxes ….hmmmm. Now why didn’t somebody think of that before?
Comment by Blue dog dem Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 3:19 pm
===so my real estate tax bill is not low when you add to it the private school tuition I have to pay since I wouldn’t send my kids to my neighborhood high school and can’t get them into any selective enrollment high school…===
+1
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 3:20 pm
=But yet, most Chicago residents are outraged at the prospect of Rahm’s property tax hike. This type of mentality is the number one reason why the City, County & State are experiencing such fiscal turmoil - Everybody wants the services, but nobody wants to pay for them.=
In part because neither Daley nor Emanuel had the courage to tell the truth, that if we wanted to keep the service level we enjoy, we needed to pay more. Instead they perpetuated the myth( aided by the Tribune no-nothing editors) that cutting “waste, fraud, and abuse” alone would do the trick
Comment by Truthteller Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 3:23 pm
I understand that a lot of downtown real estate is actually owned churches and non-profits and is assessed very low, if at all. I believe the Northwestern Methodists own a lot, and the non-profit hospitals also take up a lot of the space. Isn’t much of that property also in Tiff districts so that none of the money foes to schools, it only goes to fill developers pockets, and of course the connected contractors and unions that build the infrastructure with the tax dollars taken from school children?
Comment by Arizona Bob Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 4:08 pm
I believe the outrage directed towards MRE is justified. He and his ineffectual, insular administration were quite cognizant of the fiscal situation we’ve been in for over 4 years. Please name one cost saving measure that his administration has implemented that resulted in producing any savings.
MRE is a terrible steward of taxpayers money.
To be clear, I support tax hikes, but am wary due to this administration’s lack of transparency, secrecy, incompetence, etc. I just don’t trust their stewardship. And MRE has no one to blame, but himself.
And yes, it would be nice to actually receive a service you pay for, but apparently asking for a tree trim is the equivalent of asking them to part Lake Michigan…never going to happen.
Comment by Norwich Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 4:35 pm
“MRE has no one to blame, but himself”
So, you moved here after he was elected?
He could blame Richie Daley all day and all night, but he doesn’t do that much, at least publicly.
Had there been no pension holidays, the City would not currently have a pension crisis.
Comment by Chris Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 5:15 pm
the city budget is so top heavy with management no tax increase on earth will fix the problem. employees retiring at 50 with full pensions. Daley privatized huge chunks of city actual workers but neverbothered to reduce management. because these are the jobs they can dole out. in 2 months I bet I could cut that budget by a third.
Comment by Bobio Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 5:24 pm
It’s not the tax rate, it’s what you get for the taxes you pay that matters.
If you are a company or a professional in the Loop, you are arguable in the best central business district in the country outside of Manhattan, right?
But if you are middle class family or a retiree living in the neighborhoods, it not such a good deal. And the tax hike doesn’t improve services a stitch.
Comment by Juvenal Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 5:42 pm
This was touched on in another comment but I wanted to emphasize it — a large portion of Chicago (1/3rd?) is in TIF Districts so any increased property taxes in those areas will not go into the general revenue fund (i.e. for schools, pensions, etc) but will go into TIF funds i.e. mayoral slush funds.
Comment by Lakefront Liberal Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 6:02 pm
I’m not outraged at the tax increase. I am outraged that my taxes are going up and not one single social program of substance is on the chopping block. Can’t tell me that all the social welfare money programs are working. If they were crime would be down and the work force would be better trained. Raise my taxes fine, but where is the shared sacrifice from the social program community
Comment by Chicago(D) Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 6:09 pm
The viscous tax and spend cycle continues. Is there no end to this madness? When will Windy City residents wake up, smell the coffee and file……
Comment by Blue dog dem Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 6:44 pm
@Chris - Thank you for your comment. You are absolutely correct, I do think Daley needs to assume culpability, but the real question is does MRE ever call out Daley for his shameful and irrresponsible fiscal stewardship? Also, MRE hired Forrest Claypool. I’m sure you’re well aware of the fact that Claypool was Daley’s CoS, not once but twice. Are you aware of the fact that he was Daley’s CoS while they were diverting pension payments? He was also the Chicago Park District Superintendent. Another separate taxing body that is in junk bond status.
Please tell me if any of the cost saving measures MRE implemented ever managed to produce cost savings? Or is that Ferguson’s job.
Comment by Norwich Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 7:11 pm
@Chris — I’m sorry I didn’t answer your question. I was born and raised in Chicago. Do you live in the City?
I own multiple properties in the City all while having helped my father operate a small business in this City until just recently. Dementia’s difficult and the multiplier effect resonates…
I love this City, County, and State and have no problem paying more to ensure that government employees pensions are secure to ensure they receive what they justly deserve. I also am willing to pay more to increase social services. I have no problem with that.
What I have a problem with is the arrogance and ignorance of the Emanuel administration.
Oh and you should be aware of the fact that MRE hires so many re-treads from Daley’s admin it’s crazy. Go ask Pam Munizzi…
Comment by Norwich Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 7:33 pm
Another “Kick the Can” effort with no real solution -but it buys the mayor more time. More fees and taxes do not solve the long term problem. It will make government bigger -
Why can’t these even be addressed?
Comment by cannon649 Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 7:45 pm
Ouch: http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/943156/500-million-property-tax-hike-enough-shed-chicagos-junk-bond-rating-analysts-warn
“Fabian’s conclusion was that, as tough as it will be for homeowners and their aldermen to swallow a $500 million property tax increase, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the City Council need to bite the bullet even harder.
“I would have preferred to see this as the first of several property tax increases and part of a more aggressive plan. Say, $200 million or $300 million every year for the next three or four years as opposed to one large one because one large tax increase can create political volatility,” Fabian said.
“The political cost of a $500 million raise probably makes this the only revenue raise — at least the only significant one that we’ll see in the near term. And that’s just not enough. So, either it means much deeper spending cuts or a return to gimmicks, particularly if the economy softens.”
Fabian acknowledged that Chicago bonds have been “trading up a point or two for the first time in quite a while” since the Chicago Sun-Times first disclosed last week that Emanuel is poised to raise property taxes by a record $500 million for police and fire pensions and school construction and impose a first-ever garbage collection fee.
But he argued that it will take a lot more than that to rid Chicago of its costly junk bond rating.
“The city could have $1.5 billion [worth] of increases and it would still be [just] almost enough. We’re still very far from [the solution] because the full cost of the pensions for the city and the school district are enormous,” Fabian said.”
Comment by Little Eddie's Funkytown Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 7:08 am
Why hasn’t the City laid off workers? Why not eliminate programs and cut spending? Reamortize the pension payments? Eliminate pensions going forward? Cut the City council to 10? Cut benefits? Freeze pay?
Comment by Tone Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 7:31 am
– I understand that a lot of downtown real estate is actually owned churches and non-profits and is assessed very low, if at all.–
You might want to check the definition of the word “understand.” Did you get this from a movie of something?
Real estate owned by religious organizations and non-profits do not receive blanket exemptions from taxation. Purpose and use are the key factors.
Otherwise, it would be a pretty easy dodge, don’t you think?
Comment by Wordslinger Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 9:38 am