CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY FUNDING - POLITICAL GAMESMANSHIP THREATENS FUNDING PROPOSAL!
IL GOVERNOR BLAGOJEVICH - LET SENIORS RIDE FREE. CHICAGO MAYOR DALEY - WHY BRING THIS UP NOW?
A long-running funding battle came to an unexpected crisis point this week over funding for Mass Transit in Chicago - especially affecting the Chicago Transit Authority, the CTA.
Early last week, the IL General Assembly, both the House and the Senate, passed an emergency funding package that would create two tax increases - one affecting all consumers in the Chicago-area counties of Cook, Lake, DuPage, McHenry, Will and Kane. A second potential increase could add to the cost of purchasing a home within the City of Chicago.
The bill allows for increasing the sales tax in Cook County, which includes the City of Chicago, by 0.25 percent, and in the remaining "collar counties" of Chicago by 0.50 %. Governor Blagojevich vehemently opposed any sales tax increase, saying it would adversely affect senior citizens and the poor, but said he would support this compromise legislation if it were amended to allow for free CTA rides for those over the age of 65.
Mayor Daley and Mass Transit Riders throughout the Chicago area are getting a bit nervous - the CTA Board Chairman has threatened severe service cuts to bus and el riders, especially those in the City of Chicago, if an acceptable funding plan is not in place by Monday, January 20th. The specific cost impact of free rides to seniors has yet to be calculated if the bill were changed to allow for this special provision.
Many critics of the governor's proposal say it throws a wrench into an already-contentious funding package. The issue has been debated for seven months, and several interim budget bailout measures have kept buses and trains running to this point.
The sales tax increases, many contend, would create undue hardship among low and fixed-income Chicago-area residents. The increase in the City of Chicago Real Estate Transfer Tax, already at the high level of $7.50 per thousand dollars of a home purchase price, could substantially increase closing costs for Chicago home buyers, in the midst of a sluggish real estate market in the area.
Click here for Ted Gregory's article and related video in today's Sunday Chicago Tribune.
DEAN MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
