I love Chicago's Lake Front Liberals. That right guys, keep voting for more taxes to keep pushing business out of our city. Pretty soon it will be just you and the poor...the only rats left on a sinking ship.
Sorry that was very negative. Just kidding!
Why Bring Chicago Home failed
Axios News
Data: Chicago Board of Elections; Map: Thomas Oide/Axios
As the defeat of Bring Chicago Home sinks in, supporters and opponents of the high-end real estate transfer tax hike are processing what happened and how to proceed.
Why it matters: The loss marks the first big setback for Mayor Brandon Johnson's progressive agenda. It's a signal to some that he may be moving too fast, but Johnson has rebuffed such suggestions — exhorting the city to "buckle up."
Catch up quick: While Chicago election officials are still counting mail-in votes, the race was called by the Associated Press last Friday after the ballot measure fell 21,000 votes short.
The proposal aimed to generate $100 million a year for homeless services.
Both backers and opponents say more needs to be done to address homelessness in Chicago.
Between the lines: Voting patterns mirrored longstanding political trend lines, with more conservative Northwest and Southwest wards voting heavily against it, and lakefront liberals, especially in Rogers Park, voting for it.
Downtown and Lincoln Park voters also strongly opposed the measure.
We asked key players why Bring Home Chicago lost. What they said:
1. People not affected by homelessness don't understand it, according to Johnson.
"I don't believe it's a coincidence that where there are more 'yeses' there's a greater concentration of those who are unhoused," the mayor said last week. "They understood the assignment."
2. Voters fear rising residential property taxes if the measure further hurts commercial real estate, according to Ald. Marty Quinn (13th), who opposed the measure.
"It's no secret that the downtown buildings are struggling … and so that tax has to be recouped by someone," Quinn tells Axios.
Ald. Marty Quinn. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios
3. People worry that the tax could stifle new development, says opponent Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th).
"Our concerns about growth, housing stock and our dwindling supply of affordable housing — which, in my ward, is largely built by private developers — resonated with voters," Lawson tells Axios.
4. Citizens have little faith in city leaders, says City Council's progressive caucus.
Voters had "real questions about whether or not they could trust the government to spend the money the right way," the caucus said in a statement released this week.
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