Daley's Taxing Tactics

By Margaret Lyons in News on Oct 10, 2007 5:47PM

Mayor Daley unveiled his $5.4 billion budget today, and with it the expected $108 million increase in property taxes and the 10-cent charge on bottled water. City stickers for SUVs will be more expensive, parking fines will be higher, the tax on liquor will also increase, and the monthly phone surcharge that covers 911 costs will go from $1.25 to $2.50. Also, every time you hear a baby giggle, you have to give the City a quarter. Tough times, people. Tough times.

According to Daley, "Our revenues are flat and the cost of government continues to increase," and he wants to "keep Chicago moving forward." He scrapped plans to double the gas tax and the tax on restaurant meals, but the budget still includes $260 million in increased taxes and fees.

In his inaugural address last May, Daley promised to

... continue to challenge city government to do more with less, including restructuring our operations to further improve the delivery of city services and provide them more effectively and efficiently. We must do all we can to protect our taxpayers.

We'll have more as the story develops — and aldermen start squawking — but for now we'll point out that these tax increases come at the same time the County is discussing raising taxes, and the CTA budget clusterfuck is far from resolved.