Real Estate Tax Increase – Chicago’s Elected Leaders Railroad Higher Surcharge
Selling your home just got a bit more expensive in Chicago.
Before you dismiss this hike as simply a $3 increase, please pay close attention to the fact that it is $3 per every $1,000 of a piece of property that you buy. So let’s say you purchase a $500,000 condo, your responsibility as a buyer just went up $1,500 – from the previous owed amount of $4,500 to the new amount owed of $6,000. In real life terms you just tossed a laptop computer on the ample laps of your elected officials.
Why? They say it’s to keep the CTA running. But is it? Last week it appeared that the money generated from this levy on homeowners will do nothing more than toss $60,000,000 to the CTA’s pension fund. Not one additional train or bus will hit the rails or streets.
There’s no doubt that the CTA plays a vital role in Chicago’s well-being, but the question at hand is whether inflicting another wound upon the already hurting housing market makes any sense. Was there a more appropriate vehicle to gain the funds for the ailing CTA? Should the city council sported some gusto and forced the issue with the stooges in the state capital? Should everybody’s favorite target, Governor Rod Blagojevich, suddenly become a political leader instead of a piece of furniture?
In the meantime what we have is a tax increase. Don’t doubt its effectiveness in taking money out of your pocket. Maybe you aren’t buying a home right now, but at some point it is likely you will. Take a look at the bottom line and realize how this 40% hike poked you in the eye while kneeing you in the groin.
By the way, this higher surcharge is brought to you from the same people who decided as of January 1st that Chicagoans would pay 5 cents for every container of bottled water they purchase. So visit the Costco at Clybourn and Diversey and buy a 24-pack of Ice Mountain and dig a little deeper in your pocket to enrich the city by $1.20.
You wonder when the madness will cease. But typically madness ceases only after we take stands. Feel free to click here to determine who your alderman is and to shoot an email to beseech sensibility.
Talk with you soon!
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