CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago City Council approved the “Bring Chicago Home” measure on Tuesday, which could lead to an increase in the real estate transfer tax in order to help fund housing and programs for people experiencing homelessness.
The vote passed with 32 alderpersons in favor and 17 against.
With Tuesday’s passage, the proposal will go before Chicago voters during the March 2024 primary election as one of three ballot referendum questions. Voters will be asked to give City Council the power to raise taxes on the sales of properties valued at more than $1 million.
Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, advocates for the proposal rallied across the street from City Hall on the plaza of the former Thompson Center. Mayor Brandon Johnson made his way over to join them.
“We’re not just bringing Chicago home; we’re just not raising revenue; we’re actually demonstrating how the City of Chicago is leading the way for the rest of the world,” Johnson said. “No tricks, no divisive tactics are going to separate us from this moment.”
North Side Ald. Maria Hadden (49th) said a lot of work had been done behind the scenes to get to this point.
“We have a plan for how we’re going to use the money,” Hadden said. “We had a bunch of civil servants working overtime for months to come up with a plan. The voters are going to tell us what they want, and then we’re going to work even harder.”
In Chicago, only three citywide referendum questions are allowed on a single election ballot. With the “Bring Chicago Home” question locked in for the 2024 ballot, alderpersons now have to determine which two other referendum questions will go before voters. On Tuesday, the issue led a City Council Rules Committee meeting to erupt into chaos.
During that meeting, a referendum was introduced that would let Chicagoans vote in 2024 on whether the City should impose reasonable limits on the resources that Chicago provides for migrant sheltering.
Several aldermen took issue with the resolution, which they said was meant to replace a separate referendum they proposed last week over whether Chicago should remain a sanctuary city. The latter was never voted on because the meeting never reached a quorum. Northwest Side Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) was accused of trying to physically restrain West Side Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) from entering that special meeting.
“Vote this ordinance down,” said South Side Ald. Anthony Beale (9th). “We can still, today, bring the sanctuary city ordinance before this body … to talk about it, put it on the ballot and let the people decide what they want to do with their government.”
The sanctuary city referendum, it should be noted, is nonbinding. Supporters of the measure, though, hope it could illustrate a need to reconsider how much money the City allocates toward caring for migrants.
Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st), who represents the Northwest Side, said in four weeks everything has been done to keep the sanctuary city question off the ballot.
“So much so that we took five roll call votes until enough of us weren’t here or were pushed out of the room where this could not be put on as a referendum,” he said. “The entire city’s seen that happen. In three days, you created … a substitute question to our referendum.”
As the alderman finished his comments, chaos erupted on the floor and the meeting was recessed until Nov. 16. The so-called “substitute” referendum was never voted on, either.
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