Homeless advocates, City Council allies pressure Lightfoot to increase real estate transfer tax

Homeless advocates and their City Council allies pressured Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday to deliver on her campaign promise to raise Chicago’s real estate transfer tax on high-end home sales by a whopping 160% to reduce homelessness and bankroll affordable housing.

At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, the coalition that calls itself the Bring Chicago Home Campaign will move on two fronts to push an initiative repeatedly thwarted by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

They’ll introduce a resolution that would put a referendum on the March 17 ballot asking Chicago voters whether they support raising the city’s 0.75% real estate transfer tax on homes sold for more than $1 million to 1.95%.

That 160% increase is expected to generate as much as $150 million per year.

They’ll also introduce an ordinance implementing the tax increase that would only be called for a vote if the referendum is approved.

It would designate $100 million or 70% of the revenues, whichever is greater, to programs reducing the estimated 86,000 Chicagoans who experience homelessness. The remaining 30% would be devoted to creating sorely needed affordable housing.

At a City Hall news conference Tuesday, Housing Committee Chairman Walter Burnett (27^th) and seven of his colleagues joined homeless advocates in holding Lightfoot’s feet to the fire. They are: Daniel La Spata (1^st); Jeanette Taylor (20^th); Michael Rodriguez (22^nd); Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25^th); Ariel Reboyras (30^th); Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33^rd); Maria Hadden (49^th).

Rodriguez Sanchez noted that 24 aldermen have signed on to the referendum and companion ordinance — and none too soon for her fast-gentrifying ward.

Fran Spielman/Chicago Sun-Times

“Families are being pushed out of many places in my ward. We have lost more than 5,000 Latinos since 2013. So this is an issue that also affects people on the basis of their race and their ethnicity,” she said.

“Nobody who doesn’t have a roof over their head can be safe. Nobody who does not have a roof over their head can be healthy.”

Burnett acknowledged aldermen from across the city eyed the transaction tax as a catch-all solution to an array of problems — from replacing lead service lines to supporting ballooning police and fire pension payments.

But Burnett sounded like a preacher as he argued that reducing homelessness is a higher priority.

“We have so many people in our society that are sleeping on the streets. We have so many people in our society shacking up with folks. We have so many buildings in our society that’s trying to help people to live in affordable housing, but need more support. We need to help people to help people,” Burnett said.

“All of those other things — we will get to those. But we were first. We put this ordinance in first to get transfer taxes. We started it and everybody else wanted to get on top of it. We want ours first!”

The aldermen don’t apologize for holding Lightfoot to her campaign promise; besides, they say, she’s with them all the way.

“We were there with the mayor about a week or two ago. ... we were in the room where it happened. And the mayor said herself that we should move forward,” Rodriguez said.

Burnett noted Lightfoot has been “moving on all of her campaign promises. This is probably the most important one that she has made.”

At an unrelated news conference Tuesday, Lightfoot said she was aware of efforts by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless to raise the real estate transfer tax on high-end home sales that represent just over five percent of real estate sales.

But she stopped short of endorsing the coalition’s specific plan and timetable, because she might ask the Illinois General Assembly to empower the city to raise the real estate transfer tax to help reduce a shortfall in her first budget that, she claims, exceeds $700 million.

“We have sat down and talked with them about what our plans are. We have a different timeline in which we are gonna address it. We’re gonna do this also in a slightly different way. But I think we can work collaboratively to get to the same place,” the mayor said.

In March, Emanuel’s City Council allies used a parliamentary maneuver to stall efforts to get the same referendum on the November 2020 ballot.

Emanuel argued then that the goal of ending homelessness was a noble one, but it was not the time to deprive beleaguered Chicago homeowners of equity.

“I don’t think you should treat the homeowners as an ATM machine. … The homeowner should be the last person we should go to for a fee before we try everything else,” Emanuel said then.

“I disagree with the methods because I don’t think the first line of defense should be the homeowner’s pocket. That’s a mistake. It will actually impact other things economically that affect the well being of the city.”