Initiative could end homelessness in Chicago, if passed goes to City Council
It’s do or die for the controversial “Bring Chicago Home” initiative Tuesday. Ballot Question 1 leaves it up to Chicago voters to say if they want to help build affordable housing and end homelessness by voting “yes,” thus amending the real estate transfer tax that will yield about $100 million annually.
That is the reason why Vaughn Roland, political director of “Bring Chicago Home” Ballot Question 1, said if passed, it would also approve prevention services like job placement and mental health treatment, both attributing to homelessness.
Roland made his comments during a press conference at Quinn AME Church, 2401 S. Wabash Avenue, where about 75 clergy attended including Reverend Dr. Michael Eaddy, pastor of the People’s Church of the Harvest.
The question related to Ballot Question 1 is whether voters want to tax wealthy real estate developers to fund affordable housing, or if you are in the less than 1 percent of property buyers who can afford to pay your fair share, you will pay a one-time sales tax when the property is purchased.
In an interview with the Chicago Crusader, Roland said, “We are urging Chicagoans to vote ‘yes’ on Ballot Question 1 and showing that we are continuing to build momentum with the coalition of the Black church, the Black faith. It’s important for us to continue to encourage Chicago to vote yes.”
Roland said “Bring Chicago Home” is the last item on the ballot; if passed it will “create a permanent funding structure to combat homelessness here in Chicago. It will be done by increasing the real estate transfer tax which is a one-time tax. It’s not a property tax. That one-time tax” is paid when a property is bought. It does not affect property taxes.
According to Roland that one-time tax is currently at 6.75 percent.
“We are asking the city to raise that for the purchasing of properties over $1 million. We’re asking the city to raise that from .75 to 2 percent. So, the structure would be if you’re purchasing the property at $1 million to $1.5 million, then you would get a 2 percent tax. If it’s 1.5 and up, then it’s a 3 percent tax and that will create a permanent revenue stream to combat homelessness.”
When asked how much that would create, Roland said, “We project anywhere between $100 million to $160 million annually.”
When asked why some people are opposing this tax, Roland explained, “I think a lot of our opponents here are trying to make this seem as if it is a property tax and it’s not. We’re just asking that individuals pay their fair share. Some of these folks in the city of Chicago are homeless. We have close to 70,000 homeless people in the city of Chicago and over half are African American.”
When asked about the payout of these funds, Roland explained, “We’ve codified three different pillars for this. One, it would go to construction of affordable housing. Two, it would go towards rental subsidies, and three, it would go towards wraparound services. This has been codified in the draft ordinance that we’ve created to ensure that the money goes into only those three purposes.”
If passed, Roland said the referendum would go back to the City Council to be voted on and approved by the City Council. Roland said it is far from a “done deal.”
