CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Supporters of the "Bring Chicago Home" referendum are filing "friend of the court" briefs to get the measure back on the ballot.
The Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago and others filed to block the Bring Chicago Home referendum in part because it would do two things simultaneously: raise the real estate transfer tax on the sale of properties worth a million dollars or more to help the homeless and lower the tax on less expensive properties.
They called it log rolling, combining an unpleasant measure with a desirable one. A judge agreed and ruled it off the ballot. But outside the Illinois appellate court, Bring Chicago Home attorney Ed Mullen scoffed at the notion.
"People in Chicago want our tax system to be more progressive. They want people who are wealthy and have the money to be paying more and they want the people who are struggling to be paying less," he said.
"This is not log rolling because all of this is popular."
Daniel Schneider, an attorney at Legal Action Chicago, said Real Estate Industry is trying to block the ballot question out of fear.
"This lawsuit was fundamentally an act of cowardice from the start. Make no mistake about that," he said. "It is the cowardice of people who knew they couldn't win in the court of public opinion, so instead they turned to what they perceived to be a friendly court to try and silence the voice of voters across this city."
BOMA director Farzin Parang accuses the backers of playing politics instead of sitting down with all stakeholders to craft a sustainable plan to combat homelessness.
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