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Mayor Daley was busy yesterday, rhapsodizing about how much he loves children and why they should have their own museum in Grant Park. He was also busy laying the groundwork for an increase in property taxes to fund education in the city. "We don't want to raise property taxes, we want to avoid that. I want to make it clear, the Board of Education is forced to raise property taxes this year it will be because Springfield forced them to do that," Daley said yesterday during a visit to Hanson Elementary School on the West Side.
Daley wants the state to come up with $180 million in new state funding as the "bare minimum" that the schools need to expand kindergarten, evening classes and foreign-language instruction, as well as other programs. The state if offering $60 million now, but Daley says that isn't enough. He'd like the state to come up with that funding by leasing assets like city is planning to do with Midway Airport. "We fund education through local property taxes. And that is very, very, very unfair because it hurts everyone. It hurts all the renters, all the homeowners, seniors, hurts everyone, not only in the city but in the state of Illinois," he said.
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In my estimation, one of the very few things worth raising taxes for is education. That said, I don't trust the clowns we have in office at any level of government to spend those extra funds wisely, seeing that they do such a piss poor job of managing what they already have. So I'm conflicted you might say.
oh, taxes. i suppose at heart, i'm what people accuse others of being as a 'tax and spend' democrat or whatever. i mean, really, i'm a democratic socialist. one's a political system, one's a money system.
anyway, all that aside, when i think of a 10% sales tax, i just kind of shudder, and pretend that it's just not happening. that's crazy talk. i just wish my taxes were going to what i wanted them to go toward. then i really wouldn't care so much.
Quick: I think you describe the thinking of many people in Chicago.
I see this as Daley merely setting up the villian for a CPS tax increase that is all but set in stone. Granted, the state's in worse shape than the city, but this seems more like theater than anything else. Chicago politics has made me hopelessly cynical.
Not everything is all Springfield's fault. Why should people downstate have to pay for Daley's mismanagment of the CPS?
With a 44% of CPS freshman not graduating we'd be better served putting the money in a big pile in the middle of the gym lining letting the kids vie for it in feats of strength and cunning.
Taxing homeowners who are already at risk because of the credit collapse? Which will mean parents taking second and third jobs, spending less time with their kids...but hey more money for the Daleys! Yaaay!
children ruin everything...we should invest these tax revenues into statewide birth control/sterilization.
To be fair, Spav, Daley's old man really messed with the schools, too, in part because cared more about the teachers' union than the students.
OK, so now Mumbles says "It's Sprinfield's fault."
Let's see. Who is the person who is most responsible for ushering in and propping up the people who are running Springfield now?
Daley, of course.
Maybe if Daley stopped diverting so much property tax $$$ to his TIF slush funds, there would be more money for the schools.
http://www.chicagoreader.com/propertytaxes/
Mc girl
How right you are the is plenty of tax money collected but a huge amount is stolen away into TIF accounts that Daley is able to use like a giant slush fund for his developer friends. No tax increase would be neccasary if TIF funds went into the general budget like they are supposed to instead of the pockets of Daley and the developers.
Mcgirl: Great point and a needed reminder.
This is all theater.