Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson spoke to local media after his “Bring Chicago Home” tax hike failed a vote. After 96% of precincts reported their votes, about 300,000 total votes were tabulated. The referendum failed by a margin of about 30,000 votes. Johnson reminded the media that around 38,000 people voted for Trump last year, and maybe that fact could have played into why “Bring Chicago Home” ultimately failed. Mayor Johnson failed to mention that this referendum was a real estate tax hike that many ordinary people do not like, regardless of political party.
If the measure were to pass, money raised from adding another tax on properties worth more than one million would have gone to attempting to solve the problem of homelessness. Raising taxes is usually unpopular regardless of the context. However, there is a particular context in Chicago. Migrants from all over the world make up a large percentage of the homeless population in the Windy City. Chicagoans probably don’t want to pay more taxes to give migrants more than the millions they have already received from taxpayer money.
SOURCES:
Chicago Mayor Johnson suggests Trump voters to blame for failure of city’s tax hike referendum | Fox News
Chicago Mayor Johnson suggests Trump voters to blame for failure of city’s tax hike referendum
After ‘Bring Chicago Home’ defeat, humbled City Council Progressive Caucus responds ‘we hear you’ – Chicago Sun-Times
Vallas: 8 ways to fix Chicago housing crisis without Johnson’s tax hike
