Daley to taxpayers: Increase is an 'abatement'

Concerned about a political backlash from struggling homeowners, Mayor Daley tried Tuesday to portray a $43 million property tax increase for Chicago Public Schools as an “abatement.”

That’s because his handpicked school officials wanted to raise property taxes by the maximum allowed by the property tax cap, as they have for 11 of the 14 years since Daley’s school takeover.

Instead, the mayor demanded that they cut the increase in half.

“They’re not raising property taxes. We’re abating 50 percent of the property tax. ... Instead of going up to $83 [million] or $100 million, we’re abating about fifty-some million,” Daley said.

“We’re abating almost 50 percent [of what the tax increase could be]. That’s what we’re doing. Any other questions?”

Daley refused to discuss the record $900 million deficit the Chicago Public Schools are facing in 2010, telling reporters, “One year at a time.”

Asked whether Chicago teachers should give up their four percent pay raise, he said, “We don’t know yet.” Asked whether he would support the alternative — raising class size — the mayor said, “No.”

With layoffs mounting, nest eggs shrinking and voter anger off the charts about the steep schedule of rate hikes tied to the $1.15 billion parking meter deal, Daley has been bending over backwards to demonstrate to struggling Chicagoans that he feels their pain.

He did it again Tuesday — even as the Board of Education was adding to the burden.

“This is a very serious financial problem. That’s why ... I’ve asked even the federal government to start taking 12 to 15 furlough days. ... I hope all federal employees … [and] all state employees … understand that this is a very difficult time for the taxpayers of America — not just for Chicago,” Daley said.

“This is a very difficult recession and every [little] bit helps.”

Eleven times in the last 14 years, Daley has given the Board of Education the green light to raise property taxes to the maximum allowed by a state-imposed cap.

Last year, was the exception.

For the first time since Daley’s 1995 school takeover, the school budget was balanced without raising property taxes — by dipping $50 million deeper into a reserve fund, postponing an annual bond issue for capital programs, cutting the central office yet again and by reducing transportation costs.

“Chicago taxpayers deserve a break. … People are hurting. They’re having a hard time making ends meet. We refuse to add to that burden,” the mayor said at the time.

If Chicagoans were hurting then, they’re suffering even more now.

Over the last two years alone, Daley has raised taxes, fines and fees by a whopping $329 million, including an $83.4 million property tax increase, the largest property tax increase in Chicago history.

The City Council also approved a 40 percent increase in the city's real estate transfer tax to bail out the CTA.

The mayor’s preliminary 2010 budget has a $520 million gap that can only be closed by cutting services, raising taxes or a combination of the two.

“People are despondent. They’re frustrated. They’re sitting on the sidelines waiting for this elusive recovery to appear on the horizon,” Northwest Side Ald. Tom Allen (38th) said Tuesday.

“It’s a little less … politically radioactive when you’re talking about educating our kids. ... It’s not like handing out money to developers. But, part of it goes back to all the money we have tied up in [tax-increment- financing]. If that money wasn’t siphoned off to all the TIF districts, it would be available to education.”

Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd) predicted that the $43 million school property tax increase would bring long-simmering anger among his constituents to a boil.

“This is clearly another step that’s gonna force more people out of the city. People are gonna say, ‘What’s the value of our education system? Where are we going with it?’” Fioretti said.

He added, “The biggest economic power of people is from 25-to-55. Where do they go to send their kids to school? They move to the suburbs. Then, they may come back to the city. Now, they don’t want to come back to the city.”

Ald. Willie Cochran (20th) said he’s not surprised by the increase, even though the timing couldn’t be worse.

“It’s gonna be a bitter pill to swallow,” but Cochran said he’s willing to swallow it because, “The schools need it. Our children need it. We have to produce better talent coming out of our schools.”