Emanuel Property Tax Hike Clears Another Hurdle, But With Plenty Of Dissent
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposal for the City's largest ever Property Tax increase won key committee approval Tuesday afternoon, but the vote was far from unanimous.
There were 17 votes for the mayor's plan to increase property taxes by $543 million over the next four years to shore up police and firefighter pension funds when the measure came before the Finance Committee, but there were also 10 votes against it.
That's unusually high as mayoral budget proposals go, but committee chairman Ald. Edward Burke (14th) said he's not surprised.
"What you've seen is a expression of reluctance on the part of the aldermen that represent the Gold Coast, the lakefront areas where this is going to have the biggest impact, and it's understandable," he said.
Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), a frequent Emanuel critic, was among the no votes.
"No, because we haven't … taken a strong enough look at other sources of revenue, and reducing spending in areas that we should," he said.
Some aldermen were planning an attempt to amend the mayor's budget plan at Wednesday's full City Council meeting.