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A higher tax on luxury real estate sales is one of Lightfoot’s new revenue solutions
A higher tax on luxury real estate sales is one of Lightfoot’s new revenue solutions
Hoyne Avenue near Wicker Park. | Photo by Carmen Troesser

Lightfoot’s administration is committed to a graduated real estate transfer tax

In order to shrink the $838 million budget gap Chicago faces next year, Mayor Lightfoot says she wants to avoid raising property taxes but is committed to taxing pricey home sales at a higher rate.

During her address on Thursday night, the mayor said her administration would be planning a graduated real estate transfer tax.

“This will bring relief to homeowners whose houses sell for under $500,000, while owners with higher-valued homes will pay more of their fair share. We are committed to addressing homelessness and housing instability, and putting real resources toward these problems.” Lightfoot said.

Last year, an op-ed by Marisa Novara and Daniel Kay Hertz in the Chicago Sun-Times argued for then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel to adopt a graduated real estate transfer tax. Emanuel wasn’t interested, claiming that the tax treated homeowners like an ATM. However, now Novara and Hertz hold key positions in Lightfoot’s administration as the Housing Commissioner and the Housing Department’s policy director.

A large portion of the mayor’s speech called on Springfield to help with the pension obligations, which Governor J.B. Pritzker has already said is not an option. Other cities and towns across Illinois have turned to raising property taxes to deal with rising pension costs. The state already has the second-highest property taxes in the nation, and in Chicago many North Side residents are shocked after recent property reassessments.

Regardless of what happens with this budget, Lightfoot said “Chicago will be on the hook for over half-a-billion in new pension obligations over the next three years.”

Lightfoot didn’t want to follow the “old playbook,” and institute another historic property tax increase. At the moment, it appears she’s trying to “avoid that measure,” however the mayor did make it clear nothing was off the table.

The mayor also reassured working-class families living in neighborhoods where “generational poverty has people in its crushing grip” that she would work on bringing a thriving economy to low-income areas.

“Our pathway to fiscal health has to run through households and neighborhoods like Roseland, and Rogers Park, Austin, and Englewood, from the southeast and southwest, and neighborhoods like Pullman and Park Manor,” Lightfoot said.

MarySue Barrett, President of the Metropolitan Planning Council, was pleased to hear similar themes from the campaign trail continue on in office.

“With clear guideposts—lessening the burden on those on the economic margins and retaining businesses—her first state of the city speech struck a common sense tone of minimizing harm. But more importantly, Chicago’s mayor pledged to be bold, transparent and equitable in closing the projected $838 million gap, declaring that fighting poverty is a ‘moral and fiscal imperative,’” Barrett said.

Moving forward, Lightfoot will continue to focus on building more affordable housing and making it accessible to the people who need it. With Novara and Maurice Cox coming to lead the city’s planning and development, Chicago is likely in a good place to provide more affordable housing resources.

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Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Chicago traffic on an expressway. | Shutterstock

Mayor Lightfoot revealed the $838 million shortfall Thursday night

On Thursday night, Mayor Lori Lightfoot disclosed Chicago’s budget gap: $838 million. While the mayor didn’t lay out a specific plan for dealing with the incredibly large shortfall, she did say one of the revenue ideas the administration was considering involved downtown congestion and traffic.

The mayor only briefly mentioned the city’s terrible congestion during her 30-minute speech, which left some wondering exactly what ideas the administration was exploring. Transportation advocates have been pushing the mayor to consider congestion pricing, but that’s not something Lightfoot has discussed openly yet.

Not quite how I read that. I read that as better regulating ride-share and changing the city tax structure for those services...

— Brendan Reilly (@AldReilly) August 29, 2019

Following her address, the mayor met with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board for an interview where she was asked to clarify some those new revenue ideas related to downtown traffic.

“We don’t have a rush hour. We have a rush day,” Lightfoot said Friday morning. “It’s a challenge for mobility, it’s a challenge for pollution, it’s a challenge for the stress on our infrastructure.”

Lightfoot said she’s considering a “menu of options” that will make people smarter about the way they travel in Chicago. She elaborated on issues with rideshares: lots of single-person rides from downtown and ride-hailing drivers idling downtown waiting for the next ride. These situations add to congestion, make it difficult for downtown buses, and cause pollution, the mayor said.

The hope is that deterring certain types of ride-hailing trips with a new or increased tax could incentivize people to use public transportation more. The administration said it is also thinking about people in areas of the city in “transportation deserts,” who might not have easy access to bus routes or train lines.

Currently, the city charges a 72-cent tax per ride-hailing trip which has funded CTA improvements in the past.

The transit advocacy group Active Transportation Alliance is supportive of congestion pricing and deterring so many ride-hailing trips into transit-rich areas. After the mayor’s address spokesperson Kyle Whitehead said, “Fair pricing and greater walk/bike/transit investment could provide lasting congestion relief while boosting neighborhood health, sustainability, and equity.”

Active Transportation was one of several organizations that wrote an open letter to the mayor after her inauguration urging her administration to consider the benefits of congestion pricing. While critics say it is a regressive policy, many major cities such as New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angelos are all debating it.

On a final note answering the editorial board’s congestion question, Lightfoot said that the revenue created from traffic and congestion downtown, whatever that final package of options turns out to be, will be put into Chicago’s infrastructure, roads, bridges, and transportation.

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Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Chicago traffic on an expressway. | Shutterstock

Mayor Lightfoot revealed the $838 million shortfall Thursday night

On Thursday night, Mayor Lori Lightfoot disclosed Chicago’s budget gap: $838 million. While the mayor didn’t lay out a specific plan for dealing with the incredibly large shortfall, she did say one of the revenue ideas the administration was considering involved downtown congestion and traffic.

The mayor only briefly mentioned the city’s terrible congestion during her 30-minute speech, which left some wondering exactly what ideas the administration was exploring. Transportation advocates have been pushing the mayor to consider congestion pricing, but that’s not something Lightfoot has discussed openly yet.

Not quite how I read that. I read that as better regulating ride-share and changing the city tax structure for those services...

— Brendan Reilly (@AldReilly) August 29, 2019

Following her address, the mayor met with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board for an interview where she was asked to clarify some those new revenue ideas related to downtown traffic.

“We don’t have a rush hour. We have a rush day,” Lightfoot said Friday morning. “It’s a challenge for mobility, it’s a challenge for pollution, it’s a challenge for the stress on our infrastructure.”

Lightfoot said she’s considering a “menu of options” that will make people smarter about the way they travel in Chicago. She elaborated on issues with rideshares: lots of single-person rides from downtown and ride-hailing drivers idling downtown waiting for the next ride. These situations add to congestion, make it difficult for downtown buses, and cause pollution, the mayor said.

The hope is that deterring certain types of ride-hailing trips with a new or increased tax could incentivize people to use public transportation more. The administration said it is also thinking about people in areas of the city in “transportation deserts,” who might not have easy access to bus routes or train lines.

Currently, the city charges a 72-cent tax per ride-hailing trip which has funded CTA improvements in the past.

The transit advocacy group Active Transportation Alliance is supportive of congestion pricing and deterring so many ride-hailing trips into transit-rich areas. After the mayor’s address spokesperson Kyle Whitehead said, “Fair pricing and greater walk/bike/transit investment could provide lasting congestion relief while boosting neighborhood health, sustainability, and equity.”

Active Transportation was one of several organizations that wrote an open letter to the mayor after her inauguration urging her administration to consider the benefits of congestion pricing. While critics say it is a regressive policy, many major cities such as New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angelos are all debating it.

On a final note answering the editorial board’s congestion question, Lightfoot said that the revenue created from traffic and congestion downtown, whatever that final package of options turns out to be, will be put into Chicago’s infrastructure, roads, bridges, and transportation.

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Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Chicago traffic on an expressway. | Shutterstock

Mayor Lightfoot revealed the $838 million shortfall Thursday night

On Thursday night, Mayor Lori Lightfoot disclosed Chicago’s budget gap: $838 million. While the mayor didn’t lay out a specific plan for dealing with the incredibly large shortfall, she did say one of the revenue ideas the administration was considering involved downtown congestion and traffic.

The mayor only briefly mentioned the city’s terrible congestion during her 30-minute speech, which left some wondering exactly what ideas the administration was exploring. Transportation advocates have been pushing the mayor to consider congestion pricing, but that’s not something Lightfoot has discussed openly yet.

Not quite how I read that. I read that as better regulating ride-share and changing the city tax structure for those services...

— Brendan Reilly (@AldReilly) August 29, 2019

Following her address, the mayor met with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board for an interview where she was asked to clarify some those new revenue ideas related to downtown traffic.

“We don’t have a rush hour. We have a rush day,” Lightfoot said Friday morning. “It’s a challenge for mobility, it’s a challenge for pollution, it’s a challenge for the stress on our infrastructure.”

Lightfoot said she’s considering a “menu of options” that will make people smarter about the way they travel in Chicago. She elaborated on issues with rideshares: lots of single-person rides from downtown and ride-hailing drivers idling downtown waiting for the next ride. These situations add to congestion, make it difficult for downtown buses, and cause pollution, the mayor said.

The hope is that deterring certain types of ride-hailing trips with a new or increased tax could incentivize people to use public transportation more. The administration said it is also thinking about people in areas of the city in “transportation deserts,” who might not have easy access to bus routes or train lines.

Currently, the city charges a 72-cent tax per ride-hailing trip which has funded CTA improvements in the past.

The transit advocacy group Active Transportation Alliance is supportive of congestion pricing and deterring so many ride-hailing trips into transit-rich areas. After the mayor’s address spokesperson Kyle Whitehead said, “Fair pricing and greater walk/bike/transit investment could provide lasting congestion relief while boosting neighborhood health, sustainability, and equity.”

Active Transportation was one of several organizations that wrote an open letter to the mayor after her inauguration urging her administration to consider the benefits of congestion pricing. While critics say it is a regressive policy, many major cities such as New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angelos are all debating it.

On a final note answering the editorial board’s congestion question, Lightfoot said that the revenue created from traffic and congestion downtown, whatever that final package of options turns out to be, will be put into Chicago’s infrastructure, roads, bridges, and transportation.

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Wolf Point East apartment tower tops off at 679 feet
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A higher tax on luxury real estate sales is one of Lightfoot’s new revenue solutions

A higher tax on luxury real estate sales is one of Lightfoot’s new revenue solutions
A higher tax on luxury real estate sales is one of Lightfoot’s new revenue solutions
Hoyne Avenue near Wicker Park. | Photo by Carmen Troesser

Lightfoot’s administration is committed to a graduated real estate transfer tax

In order to shrink the $838 million budget gap Chicago faces next year, Mayor Lightfoot says she wants to avoid raising property taxes but is committed to taxing pricey home sales at a higher rate.

During her address on Thursday night, the mayor said her administration would be planning a graduated real estate transfer tax.

“This will bring relief to homeowners whose houses sell for under $500,000, while owners with higher-valued homes will pay more of their fair share. We are committed to addressing homelessness and housing instability, and putting real resources toward these problems.” Lightfoot said.

Last year, an op-ed by Marisa Novara and Daniel Kay Hertz in the Chicago Sun-Times argued for then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel to adopt a graduated real estate transfer tax. Emanuel wasn’t interested, claiming that the tax treated homeowners like an ATM. However, now Novara and Hertz hold key positions in Lightfoot’s administration as the Housing Commissioner and the Housing Department’s policy director.

A large portion of the mayor’s speech called on Springfield to help with the pension obligations, which Governor J.B. Pritzker has already said is not an option. Other cities and towns across Illinois have turned to raising property taxes to deal with rising pension costs. The state already has the second-highest property taxes in the nation, and in Chicago many North Side residents are shocked after recent property reassessments.

Regardless of what happens with this budget, Lightfoot said “Chicago will be on the hook for over half-a-billion in new pension obligations over the next three years.”

Lightfoot didn’t want to follow the “old playbook,” and institute another historic property tax increase. At the moment, it appears she’s trying to “avoid that measure,” however the mayor did make it clear nothing was off the table.

The mayor also reassured working-class families living in neighborhoods where “generational poverty has people in its crushing grip” that she would work on bringing a thriving economy to low-income areas.

“Our pathway to fiscal health has to run through households and neighborhoods like Roseland, and Rogers Park, Austin, and Englewood, from the southeast and southwest, and neighborhoods like Pullman and Park Manor,” Lightfoot said.

MarySue Barrett, President of the Metropolitan Planning Council, was pleased to hear similar themes from the campaign trail continue on in office.

“With clear guideposts—lessening the burden on those on the economic margins and retaining businesses—her first state of the city speech struck a common sense tone of minimizing harm. But more importantly, Chicago’s mayor pledged to be bold, transparent and equitable in closing the projected $838 million gap, declaring that fighting poverty is a ‘moral and fiscal imperative,’” Barrett said.

Moving forward, Lightfoot will continue to focus on building more affordable housing and making it accessible to the people who need it. With Novara and Maurice Cox coming to lead the city’s planning and development, Chicago is likely in a good place to provide more affordable housing resources.

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Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers

Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Chicago traffic on an expressway. | Shutterstock

Mayor Lightfoot revealed the $838 million shortfall Thursday night

On Thursday night, Mayor Lori Lightfoot disclosed Chicago’s budget gap: $838 million. While the mayor didn’t lay out a specific plan for dealing with the incredibly large shortfall, she did say one of the revenue ideas the administration was considering involved downtown congestion and traffic.

The mayor only briefly mentioned the city’s terrible congestion during her 30-minute speech, which left some wondering exactly what ideas the administration was exploring. Transportation advocates have been pushing the mayor to consider congestion pricing, but that’s not something Lightfoot has discussed openly yet.

Not quite how I read that. I read that as better regulating ride-share and changing the city tax structure for those services...

— Brendan Reilly (@AldReilly) August 29, 2019

Following her address, the mayor met with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board for an interview where she was asked to clarify some those new revenue ideas related to downtown traffic.

“We don’t have a rush hour. We have a rush day,” Lightfoot said Friday morning. “It’s a challenge for mobility, it’s a challenge for pollution, it’s a challenge for the stress on our infrastructure.”

Lightfoot said she’s considering a “menu of options” that will make people smarter about the way they travel in Chicago. She elaborated on issues with rideshares: lots of single-person rides from downtown and ride-hailing drivers idling downtown waiting for the next ride. These situations add to congestion, make it difficult for downtown buses, and cause pollution, the mayor said.

The hope is that deterring certain types of ride-hailing trips with a new or increased tax could incentivize people to use public transportation more. The administration said it is also thinking about people in areas of the city in “transportation deserts,” who might not have easy access to bus routes or train lines.

Currently, the city charges a 72-cent tax per ride-hailing trip which has funded CTA improvements in the past.

The transit advocacy group Active Transportation Alliance is supportive of congestion pricing and deterring so many ride-hailing trips into transit-rich areas. After the mayor’s address spokesperson Kyle Whitehead said, “Fair pricing and greater walk/bike/transit investment could provide lasting congestion relief while boosting neighborhood health, sustainability, and equity.”

Active Transportation was one of several organizations that wrote an open letter to the mayor after her inauguration urging her administration to consider the benefits of congestion pricing. While critics say it is a regressive policy, many major cities such as New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angelos are all debating it.

On a final note answering the editorial board’s congestion question, Lightfoot said that the revenue created from traffic and congestion downtown, whatever that final package of options turns out to be, will be put into Chicago’s infrastructure, roads, bridges, and transportation.

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Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Chicago traffic on an expressway. | Shutterstock

Mayor Lightfoot revealed the $838 million shortfall Thursday night

On Thursday night, Mayor Lori Lightfoot disclosed Chicago’s budget gap: $838 million. While the mayor didn’t lay out a specific plan for dealing with the incredibly large shortfall, she did say one of the revenue ideas the administration was considering involved downtown congestion and traffic.

The mayor only briefly mentioned the city’s terrible congestion during her 30-minute speech, which left some wondering exactly what ideas the administration was exploring. Transportation advocates have been pushing the mayor to consider congestion pricing, but that’s not something Lightfoot has discussed openly yet.

Not quite how I read that. I read that as better regulating ride-share and changing the city tax structure for those services...

— Brendan Reilly (@AldReilly) August 29, 2019

Following her address, the mayor met with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board for an interview where she was asked to clarify some those new revenue ideas related to downtown traffic.

“We don’t have a rush hour. We have a rush day,” Lightfoot said Friday morning. “It’s a challenge for mobility, it’s a challenge for pollution, it’s a challenge for the stress on our infrastructure.”

Lightfoot said she’s considering a “menu of options” that will make people smarter about the way they travel in Chicago. She elaborated on issues with rideshares: lots of single-person rides from downtown and ride-hailing drivers idling downtown waiting for the next ride. These situations add to congestion, make it difficult for downtown buses, and cause pollution, the mayor said.

The hope is that deterring certain types of ride-hailing trips with a new or increased tax could incentivize people to use public transportation more. The administration said it is also thinking about people in areas of the city in “transportation deserts,” who might not have easy access to bus routes or train lines.

Currently, the city charges a 72-cent tax per ride-hailing trip which has funded CTA improvements in the past.

The transit advocacy group Active Transportation Alliance is supportive of congestion pricing and deterring so many ride-hailing trips into transit-rich areas. After the mayor’s address spokesperson Kyle Whitehead said, “Fair pricing and greater walk/bike/transit investment could provide lasting congestion relief while boosting neighborhood health, sustainability, and equity.”

Active Transportation was one of several organizations that wrote an open letter to the mayor after her inauguration urging her administration to consider the benefits of congestion pricing. While critics say it is a regressive policy, many major cities such as New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angelos are all debating it.

On a final note answering the editorial board’s congestion question, Lightfoot said that the revenue created from traffic and congestion downtown, whatever that final package of options turns out to be, will be put into Chicago’s infrastructure, roads, bridges, and transportation.

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Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Chicago traffic on an expressway. | Shutterstock

Mayor Lightfoot revealed the $838 million shortfall Thursday night

On Thursday night, Mayor Lori Lightfoot disclosed Chicago’s budget gap: $838 million. While the mayor didn’t lay out a specific plan for dealing with the incredibly large shortfall, she did say one of the revenue ideas the administration was considering involved downtown congestion and traffic.

The mayor only briefly mentioned the city’s terrible congestion during her 30-minute speech, which left some wondering exactly what ideas the administration was exploring. Transportation advocates have been pushing the mayor to consider congestion pricing, but that’s not something Lightfoot has discussed openly yet.

Not quite how I read that. I read that as better regulating ride-share and changing the city tax structure for those services...

— Brendan Reilly (@AldReilly) August 29, 2019

Following her address, the mayor met with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board for an interview where she was asked to clarify some those new revenue ideas related to downtown traffic.

“We don’t have a rush hour. We have a rush day,” Lightfoot said Friday morning. “It’s a challenge for mobility, it’s a challenge for pollution, it’s a challenge for the stress on our infrastructure.”

Lightfoot said she’s considering a “menu of options” that will make people smarter about the way they travel in Chicago. She elaborated on issues with rideshares: lots of single-person rides from downtown and ride-hailing drivers idling downtown waiting for the next ride. These situations add to congestion, make it difficult for downtown buses, and cause pollution, the mayor said.

The hope is that deterring certain types of ride-hailing trips with a new or increased tax could incentivize people to use public transportation more. The administration said it is also thinking about people in areas of the city in “transportation deserts,” who might not have easy access to bus routes or train lines.

Currently, the city charges a 72-cent tax per ride-hailing trip which has funded CTA improvements in the past.

The transit advocacy group Active Transportation Alliance is supportive of congestion pricing and deterring so many ride-hailing trips into transit-rich areas. After the mayor’s address spokesperson Kyle Whitehead said, “Fair pricing and greater walk/bike/transit investment could provide lasting congestion relief while boosting neighborhood health, sustainability, and equity.”

Active Transportation was one of several organizations that wrote an open letter to the mayor after her inauguration urging her administration to consider the benefits of congestion pricing. While critics say it is a regressive policy, many major cities such as New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angelos are all debating it.

On a final note answering the editorial board’s congestion question, Lightfoot said that the revenue created from traffic and congestion downtown, whatever that final package of options turns out to be, will be put into Chicago’s infrastructure, roads, bridges, and transportation.

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A higher tax on luxury real estate sales is one of Lightfoot’s new revenue solutions

A higher tax on luxury real estate sales is one of Lightfoot’s new revenue solutions
Hoyne Avenue near Wicker Park. | Photo by Carmen Troesser

Lightfoot’s administration is committed to a graduated real estate transfer tax

In order to shrink the $838 million budget gap Chicago faces next year, Mayor Lightfoot says she wants to avoid raising property taxes but is committed to taxing pricey home sales at a higher rate.

During her address on Thursday night, the mayor said her administration would be planning a graduated real estate transfer tax.

“This will bring relief to homeowners whose houses sell for under $500,000, while owners with higher-valued homes will pay more of their fair share. We are committed to addressing homelessness and housing instability, and putting real resources toward these problems.” Lightfoot said.

Last year, an op-ed by Marisa Novara and Daniel Kay Hertz in the Chicago Sun-Times argued for then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel to adopt a graduated real estate transfer tax. Emanuel wasn’t interested, claiming that the tax treated homeowners like an ATM. However, now Novara and Hertz hold key positions in Lightfoot’s administration as the Housing Commissioner and the Housing Department’s policy director.

A large portion of the mayor’s speech called on Springfield to help with the pension obligations, which Governor J.B. Pritzker has already said is not an option. Other cities and towns across Illinois have turned to raising property taxes to deal with rising pension costs. The state already has the second-highest property taxes in the nation, and in Chicago many North Side residents are shocked after recent property reassessments.

Regardless of what happens with this budget, Lightfoot said “Chicago will be on the hook for over half-a-billion in new pension obligations over the next three years.”

Lightfoot didn’t want to follow the “old playbook,” and institute another historic property tax increase. At the moment, it appears she’s trying to “avoid that measure,” however the mayor did make it clear nothing was off the table.

The mayor also reassured working-class families living in neighborhoods where “generational poverty has people in its crushing grip” that she would work on bringing a thriving economy to low-income areas.

“Our pathway to fiscal health has to run through households and neighborhoods like Roseland, and Rogers Park, Austin, and Englewood, from the southeast and southwest, and neighborhoods like Pullman and Park Manor,” Lightfoot said.

MarySue Barrett, President of the Metropolitan Planning Council, was pleased to hear similar themes from the campaign trail continue on in office.

“With clear guideposts—lessening the burden on those on the economic margins and retaining businesses—her first state of the city speech struck a common sense tone of minimizing harm. But more importantly, Chicago’s mayor pledged to be bold, transparent and equitable in closing the projected $838 million gap, declaring that fighting poverty is a ‘moral and fiscal imperative,’” Barrett said.

Moving forward, Lightfoot will continue to focus on building more affordable housing and making it accessible to the people who need it. With Novara and Maurice Cox coming to lead the city’s planning and development, Chicago is likely in a good place to provide more affordable housing resources.

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Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers

Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Chicago traffic on an expressway. | Shutterstock

Mayor Lightfoot revealed the $838 million shortfall Thursday night

On Thursday night, Mayor Lori Lightfoot disclosed Chicago’s budget gap: $838 million. While the mayor didn’t lay out a specific plan for dealing with the incredibly large shortfall, she did say one of the revenue ideas the administration was considering involved downtown congestion and traffic.

The mayor only briefly mentioned the city’s terrible congestion during her 30-minute speech, which left some wondering exactly what ideas the administration was exploring. Transportation advocates have been pushing the mayor to consider congestion pricing, but that’s not something Lightfoot has discussed openly yet.

Not quite how I read that. I read that as better regulating ride-share and changing the city tax structure for those services...

— Brendan Reilly (@AldReilly) August 29, 2019

Following her address, the mayor met with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board for an interview where she was asked to clarify some those new revenue ideas related to downtown traffic.

“We don’t have a rush hour. We have a rush day,” Lightfoot said Friday morning. “It’s a challenge for mobility, it’s a challenge for pollution, it’s a challenge for the stress on our infrastructure.”

Lightfoot said she’s considering a “menu of options” that will make people smarter about the way they travel in Chicago. She elaborated on issues with rideshares: lots of single-person rides from downtown and ride-hailing drivers idling downtown waiting for the next ride. These situations add to congestion, make it difficult for downtown buses, and cause pollution, the mayor said.

The hope is that deterring certain types of ride-hailing trips with a new or increased tax could incentivize people to use public transportation more. The administration said it is also thinking about people in areas of the city in “transportation deserts,” who might not have easy access to bus routes or train lines.

Currently, the city charges a 72-cent tax per ride-hailing trip which has funded CTA improvements in the past.

The transit advocacy group Active Transportation Alliance is supportive of congestion pricing and deterring so many ride-hailing trips into transit-rich areas. After the mayor’s address spokesperson Kyle Whitehead said, “Fair pricing and greater walk/bike/transit investment could provide lasting congestion relief while boosting neighborhood health, sustainability, and equity.”

Active Transportation was one of several organizations that wrote an open letter to the mayor after her inauguration urging her administration to consider the benefits of congestion pricing. While critics say it is a regressive policy, many major cities such as New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angelos are all debating it.

On a final note answering the editorial board’s congestion question, Lightfoot said that the revenue created from traffic and congestion downtown, whatever that final package of options turns out to be, will be put into Chicago’s infrastructure, roads, bridges, and transportation.

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Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Chicago traffic on an expressway. | Shutterstock

Mayor Lightfoot revealed the $838 million shortfall Thursday night

On Thursday night, Mayor Lori Lightfoot disclosed Chicago’s budget gap: $838 million. While the mayor didn’t lay out a specific plan for dealing with the incredibly large shortfall, she did say one of the revenue ideas the administration was considering involved downtown congestion and traffic.

The mayor only briefly mentioned the city’s terrible congestion during her 30-minute speech, which left some wondering exactly what ideas the administration was exploring. Transportation advocates have been pushing the mayor to consider congestion pricing, but that’s not something Lightfoot has discussed openly yet.

Not quite how I read that. I read that as better regulating ride-share and changing the city tax structure for those services...

— Brendan Reilly (@AldReilly) August 29, 2019

Following her address, the mayor met with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board for an interview where she was asked to clarify some those new revenue ideas related to downtown traffic.

“We don’t have a rush hour. We have a rush day,” Lightfoot said Friday morning. “It’s a challenge for mobility, it’s a challenge for pollution, it’s a challenge for the stress on our infrastructure.”

Lightfoot said she’s considering a “menu of options” that will make people smarter about the way they travel in Chicago. She elaborated on issues with rideshares: lots of single-person rides from downtown and ride-hailing drivers idling downtown waiting for the next ride. These situations add to congestion, make it difficult for downtown buses, and cause pollution, the mayor said.

The hope is that deterring certain types of ride-hailing trips with a new or increased tax could incentivize people to use public transportation more. The administration said it is also thinking about people in areas of the city in “transportation deserts,” who might not have easy access to bus routes or train lines.

Currently, the city charges a 72-cent tax per ride-hailing trip which has funded CTA improvements in the past.

The transit advocacy group Active Transportation Alliance is supportive of congestion pricing and deterring so many ride-hailing trips into transit-rich areas. After the mayor’s address spokesperson Kyle Whitehead said, “Fair pricing and greater walk/bike/transit investment could provide lasting congestion relief while boosting neighborhood health, sustainability, and equity.”

Active Transportation was one of several organizations that wrote an open letter to the mayor after her inauguration urging her administration to consider the benefits of congestion pricing. While critics say it is a regressive policy, many major cities such as New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angelos are all debating it.

On a final note answering the editorial board’s congestion question, Lightfoot said that the revenue created from traffic and congestion downtown, whatever that final package of options turns out to be, will be put into Chicago’s infrastructure, roads, bridges, and transportation.

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Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Chicago traffic on an expressway. | Shutterstock

Mayor Lightfoot revealed the $838 million shortfall Thursday night

On Thursday night, Mayor Lori Lightfoot disclosed Chicago’s budget gap: $838 million. While the mayor didn’t lay out a specific plan for dealing with the incredibly large shortfall, she did say one of the revenue ideas the administration was considering involved downtown congestion and traffic.

The mayor only briefly mentioned the city’s terrible congestion during her 30-minute speech, which left some wondering exactly what ideas the administration was exploring. Transportation advocates have been pushing the mayor to consider congestion pricing, but that’s not something Lightfoot has discussed openly yet.

Not quite how I read that. I read that as better regulating ride-share and changing the city tax structure for those services...

— Brendan Reilly (@AldReilly) August 29, 2019

Following her address, the mayor met with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board for an interview where she was asked to clarify some those new revenue ideas related to downtown traffic.

“We don’t have a rush hour. We have a rush day,” Lightfoot said Friday morning. “It’s a challenge for mobility, it’s a challenge for pollution, it’s a challenge for the stress on our infrastructure.”

Lightfoot said she’s considering a “menu of options” that will make people smarter about the way they travel in Chicago. She elaborated on issues with rideshares: lots of single-person rides from downtown and ride-hailing drivers idling downtown waiting for the next ride. These situations add to congestion, make it difficult for downtown buses, and cause pollution, the mayor said.

The hope is that deterring certain types of ride-hailing trips with a new or increased tax could incentivize people to use public transportation more. The administration said it is also thinking about people in areas of the city in “transportation deserts,” who might not have easy access to bus routes or train lines.

Currently, the city charges a 72-cent tax per ride-hailing trip which has funded CTA improvements in the past.

The transit advocacy group Active Transportation Alliance is supportive of congestion pricing and deterring so many ride-hailing trips into transit-rich areas. After the mayor’s address spokesperson Kyle Whitehead said, “Fair pricing and greater walk/bike/transit investment could provide lasting congestion relief while boosting neighborhood health, sustainability, and equity.”

Active Transportation was one of several organizations that wrote an open letter to the mayor after her inauguration urging her administration to consider the benefits of congestion pricing. While critics say it is a regressive policy, many major cities such as New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angelos are all debating it.

On a final note answering the editorial board’s congestion question, Lightfoot said that the revenue created from traffic and congestion downtown, whatever that final package of options turns out to be, will be put into Chicago’s infrastructure, roads, bridges, and transportation.

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A higher tax on luxury real estate sales is one of Lightfoot’s new revenue solutions

Hoyne Avenue near Wicker Park. | Photo by Carmen Troesser

Lightfoot’s administration is committed to a graduated real estate transfer tax

In order to shrink the $838 million budget gap Chicago faces next year, Mayor Lightfoot says she wants to avoid raising property taxes but is committed to taxing pricey home sales at a higher rate.

During her address on Thursday night, the mayor said her administration would be planning a graduated real estate transfer tax.

“This will bring relief to homeowners whose houses sell for under $500,000, while owners with higher-valued homes will pay more of their fair share. We are committed to addressing homelessness and housing instability, and putting real resources toward these problems.” Lightfoot said.

Last year, an op-ed by Marisa Novara and Daniel Kay Hertz in the Chicago Sun-Times argued for then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel to adopt a graduated real estate transfer tax. Emanuel wasn’t interested, claiming that the tax treated homeowners like an ATM. However, now Novara and Hertz hold key positions in Lightfoot’s administration as the Housing Commissioner and the Housing Department’s policy director.

A large portion of the mayor’s speech called on Springfield to help with the pension obligations, which Governor J.B. Pritzker has already said is not an option. Other cities and towns across Illinois have turned to raising property taxes to deal with rising pension costs. The state already has the second-highest property taxes in the nation, and in Chicago many North Side residents are shocked after recent property reassessments.

Regardless of what happens with this budget, Lightfoot said “Chicago will be on the hook for over half-a-billion in new pension obligations over the next three years.”

Lightfoot didn’t want to follow the “old playbook,” and institute another historic property tax increase. At the moment, it appears she’s trying to “avoid that measure,” however the mayor did make it clear nothing was off the table.

The mayor also reassured working-class families living in neighborhoods where “generational poverty has people in its crushing grip” that she would work on bringing a thriving economy to low-income areas.

“Our pathway to fiscal health has to run through households and neighborhoods like Roseland, and Rogers Park, Austin, and Englewood, from the southeast and southwest, and neighborhoods like Pullman and Park Manor,” Lightfoot said.

MarySue Barrett, President of the Metropolitan Planning Council, was pleased to hear similar themes from the campaign trail continue on in office.

“With clear guideposts—lessening the burden on those on the economic margins and retaining businesses—her first state of the city speech struck a common sense tone of minimizing harm. But more importantly, Chicago’s mayor pledged to be bold, transparent and equitable in closing the projected $838 million gap, declaring that fighting poverty is a ‘moral and fiscal imperative,’” Barrett said.

Moving forward, Lightfoot will continue to focus on building more affordable housing and making it accessible to the people who need it. With Novara and Maurice Cox coming to lead the city’s planning and development, Chicago is likely in a good place to provide more affordable housing resources.

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Wolf Point East apartment tower tops off at 679 feet

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Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers

Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Chicago traffic on an expressway. | Shutterstock

Mayor Lightfoot revealed the $838 million shortfall Thursday night

On Thursday night, Mayor Lori Lightfoot disclosed Chicago’s budget gap: $838 million. While the mayor didn’t lay out a specific plan for dealing with the incredibly large shortfall, she did say one of the revenue ideas the administration was considering involved downtown congestion and traffic.

The mayor only briefly mentioned the city’s terrible congestion during her 30-minute speech, which left some wondering exactly what ideas the administration was exploring. Transportation advocates have been pushing the mayor to consider congestion pricing, but that’s not something Lightfoot has discussed openly yet.

Not quite how I read that. I read that as better regulating ride-share and changing the city tax structure for those services...

— Brendan Reilly (@AldReilly) August 29, 2019

Following her address, the mayor met with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board for an interview where she was asked to clarify some those new revenue ideas related to downtown traffic.

“We don’t have a rush hour. We have a rush day,” Lightfoot said Friday morning. “It’s a challenge for mobility, it’s a challenge for pollution, it’s a challenge for the stress on our infrastructure.”

Lightfoot said she’s considering a “menu of options” that will make people smarter about the way they travel in Chicago. She elaborated on issues with rideshares: lots of single-person rides from downtown and ride-hailing drivers idling downtown waiting for the next ride. These situations add to congestion, make it difficult for downtown buses, and cause pollution, the mayor said.

The hope is that deterring certain types of ride-hailing trips with a new or increased tax could incentivize people to use public transportation more. The administration said it is also thinking about people in areas of the city in “transportation deserts,” who might not have easy access to bus routes or train lines.

Currently, the city charges a 72-cent tax per ride-hailing trip which has funded CTA improvements in the past.

The transit advocacy group Active Transportation Alliance is supportive of congestion pricing and deterring so many ride-hailing trips into transit-rich areas. After the mayor’s address spokesperson Kyle Whitehead said, “Fair pricing and greater walk/bike/transit investment could provide lasting congestion relief while boosting neighborhood health, sustainability, and equity.”

Active Transportation was one of several organizations that wrote an open letter to the mayor after her inauguration urging her administration to consider the benefits of congestion pricing. While critics say it is a regressive policy, many major cities such as New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angelos are all debating it.

On a final note answering the editorial board’s congestion question, Lightfoot said that the revenue created from traffic and congestion downtown, whatever that final package of options turns out to be, will be put into Chicago’s infrastructure, roads, bridges, and transportation.

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Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Chicago traffic on an expressway. | Shutterstock

Mayor Lightfoot revealed the $838 million shortfall Thursday night

On Thursday night, Mayor Lori Lightfoot disclosed Chicago’s budget gap: $838 million. While the mayor didn’t lay out a specific plan for dealing with the incredibly large shortfall, she did say one of the revenue ideas the administration was considering involved downtown congestion and traffic.

The mayor only briefly mentioned the city’s terrible congestion during her 30-minute speech, which left some wondering exactly what ideas the administration was exploring. Transportation advocates have been pushing the mayor to consider congestion pricing, but that’s not something Lightfoot has discussed openly yet.

Not quite how I read that. I read that as better regulating ride-share and changing the city tax structure for those services...

— Brendan Reilly (@AldReilly) August 29, 2019

Following her address, the mayor met with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board for an interview where she was asked to clarify some those new revenue ideas related to downtown traffic.

“We don’t have a rush hour. We have a rush day,” Lightfoot said Friday morning. “It’s a challenge for mobility, it’s a challenge for pollution, it’s a challenge for the stress on our infrastructure.”

Lightfoot said she’s considering a “menu of options” that will make people smarter about the way they travel in Chicago. She elaborated on issues with rideshares: lots of single-person rides from downtown and ride-hailing drivers idling downtown waiting for the next ride. These situations add to congestion, make it difficult for downtown buses, and cause pollution, the mayor said.

The hope is that deterring certain types of ride-hailing trips with a new or increased tax could incentivize people to use public transportation more. The administration said it is also thinking about people in areas of the city in “transportation deserts,” who might not have easy access to bus routes or train lines.

Currently, the city charges a 72-cent tax per ride-hailing trip which has funded CTA improvements in the past.

The transit advocacy group Active Transportation Alliance is supportive of congestion pricing and deterring so many ride-hailing trips into transit-rich areas. After the mayor’s address spokesperson Kyle Whitehead said, “Fair pricing and greater walk/bike/transit investment could provide lasting congestion relief while boosting neighborhood health, sustainability, and equity.”

Active Transportation was one of several organizations that wrote an open letter to the mayor after her inauguration urging her administration to consider the benefits of congestion pricing. While critics say it is a regressive policy, many major cities such as New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angelos are all debating it.

On a final note answering the editorial board’s congestion question, Lightfoot said that the revenue created from traffic and congestion downtown, whatever that final package of options turns out to be, will be put into Chicago’s infrastructure, roads, bridges, and transportation.

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Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Chicago traffic on an expressway. | Shutterstock

Mayor Lightfoot revealed the $838 million shortfall Thursday night

On Thursday night, Mayor Lori Lightfoot disclosed Chicago’s budget gap: $838 million. While the mayor didn’t lay out a specific plan for dealing with the incredibly large shortfall, she did say one of the revenue ideas the administration was considering involved downtown congestion and traffic.

The mayor only briefly mentioned the city’s terrible congestion during her 30-minute speech, which left some wondering exactly what ideas the administration was exploring. Transportation advocates have been pushing the mayor to consider congestion pricing, but that’s not something Lightfoot has discussed openly yet.

Not quite how I read that. I read that as better regulating ride-share and changing the city tax structure for those services...

— Brendan Reilly (@AldReilly) August 29, 2019

Following her address, the mayor met with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board for an interview where she was asked to clarify some those new revenue ideas related to downtown traffic.

“We don’t have a rush hour. We have a rush day,” Lightfoot said Friday morning. “It’s a challenge for mobility, it’s a challenge for pollution, it’s a challenge for the stress on our infrastructure.”

Lightfoot said she’s considering a “menu of options” that will make people smarter about the way they travel in Chicago. She elaborated on issues with rideshares: lots of single-person rides from downtown and ride-hailing drivers idling downtown waiting for the next ride. These situations add to congestion, make it difficult for downtown buses, and cause pollution, the mayor said.

The hope is that deterring certain types of ride-hailing trips with a new or increased tax could incentivize people to use public transportation more. The administration said it is also thinking about people in areas of the city in “transportation deserts,” who might not have easy access to bus routes or train lines.

Currently, the city charges a 72-cent tax per ride-hailing trip which has funded CTA improvements in the past.

The transit advocacy group Active Transportation Alliance is supportive of congestion pricing and deterring so many ride-hailing trips into transit-rich areas. After the mayor’s address spokesperson Kyle Whitehead said, “Fair pricing and greater walk/bike/transit investment could provide lasting congestion relief while boosting neighborhood health, sustainability, and equity.”

Active Transportation was one of several organizations that wrote an open letter to the mayor after her inauguration urging her administration to consider the benefits of congestion pricing. While critics say it is a regressive policy, many major cities such as New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angelos are all debating it.

On a final note answering the editorial board’s congestion question, Lightfoot said that the revenue created from traffic and congestion downtown, whatever that final package of options turns out to be, will be put into Chicago’s infrastructure, roads, bridges, and transportation.

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Wolf Point East apartment tower tops off at 679 feet

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Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers

Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers
Chicago traffic on an expressway. | Shutterstock

Mayor Lightfoot revealed the $838 million shortfall Thursday night

On Thursday night, Mayor Lori Lightfoot disclosed Chicago’s budget gap: $838 million. While the mayor didn’t lay out a specific plan for dealing with the incredibly large shortfall, she did say one of the revenue ideas the administration was considering involved downtown congestion and traffic.

The mayor only briefly mentioned the city’s terrible congestion during her 30-minute speech, which left some wondering exactly what ideas the administration was exploring. Transportation advocates have been pushing the mayor to consider congestion pricing, but that’s not something Lightfoot has discussed openly yet.

Not quite how I read that. I read that as better regulating ride-share and changing the city tax structure for those services...

— Brendan Reilly (@AldReilly) August 29, 2019

Following her address, the mayor met with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board for an interview where she was asked to clarify some those new revenue ideas related to downtown traffic.

“We don’t have a rush hour. We have a rush day,” Lightfoot said Friday morning. “It’s a challenge for mobility, it’s a challenge for pollution, it’s a challenge for the stress on our infrastructure.”

Lightfoot said she’s considering a “menu of options” that will make people smarter about the way they travel in Chicago. She elaborated on issues with rideshares: lots of single-person rides from downtown and ride-hailing drivers idling downtown waiting for the next ride. These situations add to congestion, make it difficult for downtown buses, and cause pollution, the mayor said.

The hope is that deterring certain types of ride-hailing trips with a new or increased tax could incentivize people to use public transportation more. The administration said it is also thinking about people in areas of the city in “transportation deserts,” who might not have easy access to bus routes or train lines.

Currently, the city charges a 72-cent tax per ride-hailing trip which has funded CTA improvements in the past.

The transit advocacy group Active Transportation Alliance is supportive of congestion pricing and deterring so many ride-hailing trips into transit-rich areas. After the mayor’s address spokesperson Kyle Whitehead said, “Fair pricing and greater walk/bike/transit investment could provide lasting congestion relief while boosting neighborhood health, sustainability, and equity.”

Active Transportation was one of several organizations that wrote an open letter to the mayor after her inauguration urging her administration to consider the benefits of congestion pricing. While critics say it is a regressive policy, many major cities such as New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angelos are all debating it.

On a final note answering the editorial board’s congestion question, Lightfoot said that the revenue created from traffic and congestion downtown, whatever that final package of options turns out to be, will be put into Chicago’s infrastructure, roads, bridges, and transportation.

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Mayor Lightfoot looks to downtown congestion and traffic for revenue answers

Chicago traffic on an expressway. | Shutterstock

Mayor Lightfoot revealed the $838 million shortfall Thursday night

On Thursday night, Mayor Lori Lightfoot disclosed Chicago’s budget gap: $838 million. While the mayor didn’t lay out a specific plan for dealing with the incredibly large shortfall, she did say one of the revenue ideas the administration was considering involved downtown congestion and traffic.

The mayor only briefly mentioned the city’s terrible congestion during her 30-minute speech, which left some wondering exactly what ideas the administration was exploring. Transportation advocates have been pushing the mayor to consider congestion pricing, but that’s not something Lightfoot has discussed openly yet.

Not quite how I read that. I read that as better regulating ride-share and changing the city tax structure for those services...

— Brendan Reilly (@AldReilly) August 29, 2019

Following her address, the mayor met with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board for an interview where she was asked to clarify some those new revenue ideas related to downtown traffic.

“We don’t have a rush hour. We have a rush day,” Lightfoot said Friday morning. “It’s a challenge for mobility, it’s a challenge for pollution, it’s a challenge for the stress on our infrastructure.”

Lightfoot said she’s considering a “menu of options” that will make people smarter about the way they travel in Chicago. She elaborated on issues with rideshares: lots of single-person rides from downtown and ride-hailing drivers idling downtown waiting for the next ride. These situations add to congestion, make it difficult for downtown buses, and cause pollution, the mayor said.

The hope is that deterring certain types of ride-hailing trips with a new or increased tax could incentivize people to use public transportation more. The administration said it is also thinking about people in areas of the city in “transportation deserts,” who might not have easy access to bus routes or train lines.

Currently, the city charges a 72-cent tax per ride-hailing trip which has funded CTA improvements in the past.

The transit advocacy group Active Transportation Alliance is supportive of congestion pricing and deterring so many ride-hailing trips into transit-rich areas. After the mayor’s address spokesperson Kyle Whitehead said, “Fair pricing and greater walk/bike/transit investment could provide lasting congestion relief while boosting neighborhood health, sustainability, and equity.”

Active Transportation was one of several organizations that wrote an open letter to the mayor after her inauguration urging her administration to consider the benefits of congestion pricing. While critics say it is a regressive policy, many major cities such as New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angelos are all debating it.

On a final note answering the editorial board’s congestion question, Lightfoot said that the revenue created from traffic and congestion downtown, whatever that final package of options turns out to be, will be put into Chicago’s infrastructure, roads, bridges, and transportation.

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Department of Housing adds new policy director with background in fiscal analysis https://ift.tt/327XqfR

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Department of Housing adds new policy director with background in fiscal analysis

The policy analyst and author starts in September

Daniel Kay Hertz, a city policy analyst and author, will take a job as policy director within the Chicago’s Department of Housing (DOH) in September.

Hertz announced the news on Twitter Wednesday morning and deferred to DOH until he starts his new position in a few weeks.

Previously, Hertz worked at the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability as a senior state and local policy analyst focusing on finances, housing, and pensions. There he made an effort to make findings more accessible and transparent, according to his website. Hertz is a graduate of Harvard College and attended University of Chicago for a masters in public policy.

He also wrote a book last year, The Battle of Lincoln Park, about the neighborhood’s gentrification in the ’60s. He’s also had work published in the Chicago Reader, Chicago Magazine, and The Atlantic.

This summer there were two other key hires to city departments. Mayor Lightfoot selected Metropolitan Planning Council’s Marisa Novara to lead the new Department of Housing in June. Then in July, news broke that Detroit’s top city planner, Maurice Cox, would leave to take a position as Chicago’s Commissioner of Planning and Development.

Some Wednesday morning professional news: Next month I’ll be leaving the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, where I’ve been extremely honored to work the last three years, and moving to a position as policy director at the Chicago Department of Housing.

— Daniel Kay Hertz (@DanielKayHertz) August 28, 2019

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