Emanuel Shoots Down Teachers Union's Tax Plan To Fund Schools
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool on Thursday rejected a laundry list of new and increased taxes the Chicago Teachers Union had suggested to boost funding for the cash-strapped school district.
CTU unveiled a list of roughly $500 million in taxes on Wednesday, as delegates held off on setting a strike date for now.
The proposed measures included $94 million from reinstating and vastly increasing the city's head tax, which Emanuel phased out after he first took office in 2011; $98 million from tripling the city's gasoline tax; $15 million from a new tax on ride-hailing services like Uber; $35 million from an increased tax on rental cars; and $100 million from automatically assessing the valuation of commercial properties at 25 percent of the sale price when calculating their property taxes.
CTU also wants to release an additional $100 million in surplus tax increment financing money, establish a new special service area to raise $100 million a year in new property tax revenue for the schools, and shift to CPS the $1.2 billion in borrowing Emanuel wanted to use for his proposed McCormick Place compromise on the Lucas Museum project.
Emanuel – who last year won City Council approval of a record $588 million property tax hike, with the vast majority of the revenue going to shore up police and fire pensions – said Chicagoans pay too much in taxes already.
The mayor said the union's tax plan – which would not require any approval by state lawmakers or the governor – would get the state off the hook for its constitutional mandate to bear the primary responsibility for funding public education.
"The idea is not to ask people to pay taxes more," Emanuel said.
Claypool said Chicagoans pay 5 percent more in taxes than they get back in state funding for schools.
"The missing 5 percent is worth $570 million, enough to save our schools. That's what the fight is about. It's about equality of funding for our kids in Chicago, and also for low-income districts throughout the state," he said.