Bring Chicago Home tax referendum officially fails

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Bring Chicago Home ballot referendum calling for the use real estate transfer taxes to fight homelessness has officially failed, according to The Associated Press.

With all precincts reporting, the referendum failed by a vote of 53.2% to 46.8%. A total of 173,217 votes were cast against the initiative, while 152,248 were cast for it.

The Bring Chicago Home referendum was a marquee initiative of Mayor Brandon Johnson and his progressive allies on the City Council in an effort to raise more money to fight homelessness.

"This is not the result that we wanted," said Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th). "It is devastating."  

The measure asked voters to authorize the City Council to increase the real estate transfer tax on the sales of properties for $1 million or more in Chicago, while lowering the tax rate for less expensive properties:

• The transfer tax for properties valued at less than $1 million would drop from 0.75% to 0.60%.
• Properties sold for between $1 million and $1.5 million would pay a 2% transfer tax, nearly triple the current rate.
• Properties sold for $1.5 million or more would pay a 3% transfer tax, four times the current rate.

Bring Chicago Home's backers originally tried to convince the Illinois General Assembly to pass the tax plan, but with no action from state lawmakers, their only other option was to seek a voter referendum in Chicago.

Critics said voters rejected the referendum because it was too thin on details of where the money would go, and too heavy when it came to the taxes it would take – impacting far more than Chicago's millionaires