Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot outlined an $11.65 billion city spending plan for 2020 aimed at erasing an $838 million budget deficit. The plan relies on new money from taxes on ride-shares, dining and legal marijuana, as well as an increase in revenue from property transfer taxes.
Lightfoot’s plan also calls for refinancing city debt, cutting vacant jobs and tapping additional revenue from tax increment financing districts, among other things. The city also would allocate additional money to fund violence-prevention efforts, mental health and providing more housing options for the city’s homeless and low-income residents.
Here are five things to know about Lightfoot’s budget proposal:
1. Property taxes: Lightfoot’s plan calls for increasing the Chicago Public Library system’s property taxes by $18 million to keep the doors open at the city’s libraries every day; most of the branches are closed Sundays right now. But property owners could see their taxes go up even more if the General Assembly and Gov. J.B. Pritzker don’t answer her call in the upcoming veto session to hike the real estate transfer tax on high-dollar property sales. She’s counting on the increase to bring in $150 million in extra revenues through the end of next year.
2. A night of drinking and dining on the town is going to cost you more: Under the proposal, the current 0.25% tax on food and drinks sold at retail establishments and restaurants would double starting Jan. 1. That would bring in an extra $20 million.
3. Expect to pay more for ride-sharing or parking downtown: Uber, Lyft and other ride-share trips in Chicago for single riders will increase under the mayor’s plan. Currently, all ride-share trips are assessed a flat 72 cents per ride in taxes and fees. Under Lightfoot’s proposal, that would drop to 65 cents for shared trips, but increase to $1.25 for single riders. Larger increases, however, would be in store for trips downtown during peak hours: Solo riders would pay a total of $3 in taxes and fees, while shared trips would pay $1.25 total, under the plan. That would reap an extra $40 million next year. The mayor said she will hike parking meter rates as well as add meters in the West Loop.
4. What about the teachers? With the city’s public school classes canceled for a fifth day, the ongoing Chicago teachers strike loomed over the mayor’s first budget speech. Chicago Public Schools teachers rallied outside City Hall. CPS has a separate budget, but the mayor did touch on an issue brought up during negotiations: affordable housing. While the mayor wasn’t willing to put it in writing in the teachers contract, her budget plan calls for increasing spending by $10 million: $5 million for what’s known as a Flexible Housing Pool for those who take refuge at shelters and emergency rooms and another $5 million for the Low-Income Housing Trust Fund, which provides low-income rental housing.
5. Violence prevention, beyond Chicago police: The mayor wants to spend $9 million on adding community workers who can work with high-risk youth.
Chicago Tribune’s John Byrne and Gregory Pratt contributed.
Lisa Donovan is the host of The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Twitter @byldonovan
