More Taxes for Chicago?

By Kevin Robinson in News on Apr 3, 2008 4:22PM

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.

Image via matrixchic