Rahm’s 2016 Budget Includes $600M Property Tax Hike, More Fees

Deputy Mayor Steven Koch told legislators Thursday that the city wants to protect residents whose homes are worth $250,000 or less and Chicago’s downtown business core will absorb much of the burden.

The city has one of the worst pension problems in the nation. Burns says it’s a way to put Chicago on secure financial footing. Moody’s Investors Service, which dropped Chicago’s rating to junk in May, withheld comment until a final budget is enacted. The majority of that hike, $543M, would be used to shore up police and firefighter pensions that have been underfunded for years.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel outlines his 2016 proposed budget Tuesday, calling for a phased-in $543 million property tax increase. The constitutionality of a 2014 state law aimed at shoring up the city’s municipal and laborers’ funds, in part by cutting benefits, will be determined by the Illinois Supreme Court in the coming months.

Chicago has a $20 billion unfunded liability for its four pension systems.