An appellate court on Wednesday brought Mayor Brandon Johnson’s “Bring Chicago Home” referendum back to life on the city’s primary ballot — for now.
In a decision handed down less than two weeks before the March 19 primary election, presiding Justice Raymond Mitchell struck down a Cook County Circuit judge’s ruling that had ordered the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners not count votes on the measure, which, if approved by voters, would increase taxes on high-end real estate transactions.
Cook County Circuit Judge Kathleen Burke had sided with opponents in the real estate industry, who argued the wording of the referendum question was invalid because it combined a tax cut with a tax increase.
But the three-justice panel’s reversal of that decision was unanimous. In the opinion, written by Mitchell, the appeals court argued it cannot interfere with the legislative process by removing the question from the ballot.
“The holding of an election for the purpose of passing a referendum to empower a municipality to adopt an ordinance is a step in the legislative process of the enactment of that ordinance. Courts do not, and cannot, interfere with the legislative process,” the opinion reads. “Courts are empowered to rule on the validity of legislative enactments only after they have been enacted.”
The court concluded its opinion with a “gentle reminder” that justices deemed necessary in light of “contention” over the issue.
“Nothing in this decision is intended to suggest that we have any opinion one way or the other on the merits of the referendum at issue. That is a question wisely entrusted not to judges but to the people of the city of Chicago,” the opinion stated.
The case could still be brought to the state Supreme Court.
“I’ve said all along that the people of Chicago should determine how we address the unhoused crisis in Chicago,” Johnson said at an unrelated news conference Wednesday afternoon. “Organizing in this city is a major part of what has helped transform our city over the course of decades. That history is still intact. I’m encouraging everyone to vote in this upcoming election cycle.”
Under the proposal, portions of property valued above $1 million would be taxed at higher rates, while property valued under that amount would see a tax cut. At least $100 million annually is estimated to be generated from the tax, which the city plans to use to address homelessness.
The plaintiffs — a collection of real estate and business groups — argued that the referendum question violates the state constitution by combining multiple questions into one, and that the ballot language was too vague.
The Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago, one of the groups that sued, said it will be reviewing the order to determine whether it will appeal.
“We are disappointed in the outcome of this case, but felt it was important to challenge this misleading and manipulative referendum question,” Executive Director Farzin Parang said in a statement.
Opponents and supporters had continued to campaign on the issue despite the legal back-and-forth, and encouraged voters to still weigh in on the ballot question. Political action committees for and against the referendum have each raised over $1 million to fund their outreach.
Maxica Williams, chair of the End Homelessness Ballot Initiative Committee and board president of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, said Wednesday in a statement that work will continue.
“We look forward to keeping up our efforts to reach hundreds of thousands of voters about their opportunity to vote yes for a fair and sustainable plan to fund housing, care for the homeless and ask wealthy real estate corporations to pay their fair share,” Williams said.
Chicago Board of Elections spokesman Mex Bever said, “All votes cast for the citywide question will be counted and reported by the Chicago Board of Elections on election night, March 19.”
Downtown Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), one of the most outspoken critics of the transfer tax increase, said that the real estate industry’s best chance to defeat the binding referendum was through the court system — not the ballot box.
But veteran political consultant Greg Goldner, who leads the campaign against the measure through a political action committee called “Keep Chicago Affordable,” said the mayor’s initiative “is going to end up hurting the people they’re trying to help. We’re going to communicate that to the voters for the next 13 days.”
“This isn’t the right approach. It isn’t a mansion tax. It’s mostly a tax on any real estate at all over $1 million,” Goldner said. “That hurts all types of investment, including apartment buildings throughout the city, grocery stores in all neighborhoods. It’s going to increase rents.”
Contributing: WBEZ reporters Tessa Weinberg and Mariah Woelfel.
