CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Weeks after Mayor Brandon Johnson unveiled his 2024 budget proposal, some Chicago City Council members have asked what will happen if the City does not get enough funds from the Federal and State governments to help support the more than 20,000 migrants in the city.
Sarah Wetmore, acting president of the Civic Federation, said Chicago needs alternate revenue if officials here are disappointed by Washington and Springfield. Wetmore said her group has studied other revenue sources, but it isn't going to suggest any.
"The Civic Federation doesn't take positions on revenues in the abstract," she said. "We really need to be able to evaluate a revenue proposal within the context of how it's being spent."
Still, she said one way to evaluate various alternative taxes is to compare Chicago's with those of other cities.
Wetmore cited Chicago's property tax rate, which, like other Illinois municipalities, tends to be "much higher" than other U.S. cities. She added that the sales tax in Chicago is similarly high.
"Those are some additional places to take a look and do some evaluation in terms of where you might go forward with some revenues," she said.
As for other revenue sources in Chicago, the Johnson Administration and its casino team projected that Bally's Casino could eventually bring Chicago upward of $200 million each year. The company already made an upfront payment of $40 million in fees and will pay $4 million annually.
Wetmore, though, sounded a note of caution.
"Casino revenues and other kinds of gambling revenues have a certain amount of uncertainty around them," she said.
Among the factors driving the uncertainty: Competition. Wetmore pointed out that Chicago was one of six Illinois municipalities permitted to open a casino, in addition to the casinos that already exist in neighboring states. Sports gambling and video gaming present other opportunities for Illinoisans to take their business elsewhere.
Wetmore said Chicago does have some reserves it could tap into, but she wouldn't take a position on whether that's wise.
Civic Federation President Sarah Wetmore was the guest on WBBM's At Issue program this weekend, and you can hear more of her analysis in the full episode included above.
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