Friday Afternoon Diversion
Jay-Z Announces 2010 Tour Dates. Chicago Not On List.
"Batman" Headline Is a Stretch, But Prison Escape Story Could Be Its Own Movie
Grates To Tear Up Schubas
Chili Cook-Off Countdown
With the spate of recent tax increases in the region, Chicago's been trying to find a way to ease the pain. Earlier this month Mayor Daley announced that he had persuaded the Cook County Board of Review to reopen the appeals process for a special two-week period, so that homeowners who feel that their property tax has been assessed too high as a result of the downturn in the housing market could appeal. And yesterday the city council's Finance Committee backed a proposal by Ald. Patrick O’Connor (40th), which would shift the burden of the 40 percent transfer tax increase onto sellers of homes.
The real estate transfer tax increase, passed last month as part of the CTA bail-out plan, would shift from the buyer of a home to the seller. The current tax, $7.50 per $1,000 of the sale price, will continue to be paid by the buyer. But the tax hike, $3 per $1,000, which takes effect April 1, will be shouldered by the seller. O'Connor said that he wanted to split the charges equally between the seller and the buyer but that state law prohibits such a move. “It’s really just a matter of trying not to have the full burden of this increase in taxes continue to be on a purchaser who is buying property in the city. It just seemed to be a more fair way to try and divide this tax. By making the CTA [portion] all on the seller and the city's all on the purchaser, at least there's a clear delineation," O'Connor told the Sun-Times.
Of course, The Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago opposes the move. "By shifting that tax over on the seller's side, you are stripping them of equity. You are taking money out of the pockets of people who have hard-earned home equity that has been built up over time,” Paul Colgan said, speaking on behalf of the Association. Ald. Bernie Stone (50th) wasn't too impressed, however. “Over the last at least ten years, prices have appreciated as much as 100 to 200 percent. So, I’m not gonna cry for the sellers,” Stone said.
Image via Pantagrapher
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Wow, Stone actually said something that made sense. I wonder who wrote it for him.
apparently, one way to ease the pain is to make your own "FOR SALE" sign instead of buying those fancy, overpriced ones at the ace true value or menard's.
"With the spate of recent tax increases in the region, Chicago's been trying to find a way to ease the pain"
That is the most ironic, BS sentence I've read in a while- not because of you though Kevin. If Daley and commissioners truly wanted to find a way to ease the pain, why in hell would they keep tacking on these taxes?! THEY are the ones that increased the transfer and stamp tax several WEEKS AGO! IF they really gave a shit they would stop with all the bullshit real estate, entertainment, beverage, water bottle, plastic baggie bullshit!
"With the spate of recent tax increases in the region, Chicago's been trying to find a way to ease the pain"
That is the most ironic, BS sentence I've read in a while- not because of you though Kevin. If Daley and commissioners truly wanted to find a way to ease the pain, why in hell would they keep tacking on these taxes?! THEY are the ones that increased the transfer and stamp tax several WEEKS AGO! IF they really gave a shit they would stop with all the bullshit real estate, entertainment, beverage, water bottle, plastic baggie bullshit!
The damn double posting on this thing.
I get an error that says it did not post, after the first time I hit submit. So I hit submit again, and then we get a double post.
i think mepps should be taxed for his double-posts and then follow ups to his double-posts. i hope those don't count as posting in the monthly tabulations. however, what he said i agree with 100%. the economy is tanking in large part due to real estate and chicago's answer is to increase taxes. can anyone explain that these tax increases are somehow economically beneficial to the chicago area and won't further depress the local market? is there something that i am missing?
On April 1st the tax will have a double structure.
The tax will increase to $10.50 for every $1000(from the current $7.50 per $1000).
The council has decided that the tax will be charged to BOTH the buyer and the seller of the property.
The buyer will pay the current tax portion on the transfer i.e. $7.50 of the $10.50 tax rate.
The seller will be required to pay the $3 increase to the City of Chicago.
Boemelaar: Nice question, to which I have no answer.
And I think the Cook County sales tax increase, as well as some of the city's unofficial tax increases (TIFs, for instance) are dumb. I half-heartedly support the sales tax increase for the RTA agencies, as they needed it, though I wish a better funding source had been found.
That said, let me ask: Everyone seems to say tax increases have no place in a tanking economy, as that will just make things worse. Yet, people during the good ole days of the mid to late 1990s, as well as during other economic good times, always seem to say that any taxes increase will kill growth. Is there ever a time to impose tax increases, or should we never, ever increase taxes? I am asking in a general way.