From shelling out more for that Uber or Lyft ride to forking over more for rent, Chicagoans would need to open their wallets a little wider under Mayor Emanuel’s proposed 2016 budget.
Winding up his pitch for a phased-in property tax increase, which landlords could pass on to renters, he painted a dire picture of what the city could look like if it doesn’t make tough decisions to fulfill the city’s responsibility to fund pensions for police and firefighters. If the city relied solely on slashing costs, he said 2,500 police officers would get cut from the payroll, 48 fire stations would close, 2,000 firefighters would get laid off, potholes would go unfilled and recycling would be eliminated.
“Our city services would become unreliable. Our city would become unlivable. And that would be totally unacceptable. That’s not the Chicago we want to raise our children in and that’s clearly not the Chicago we want them to inherit,” Emanuel said.
When Emanuel presented his proposed budget on Tuesday, he touted accomplishments of his administration—much like a State of the City address—including lowering the unemployment rate and attracting corporate headquarters to the city.
“We are finally attracting and keeping young people and families in our city rather than watching them flee for the coasts or the suburbs,” Emanuel told the City Council. “But if we want things to keep going right, we have to right our city’s financial ship.”
He noted the city has eliminated vacant city government positions along with other cost-cutting initiatives and reforms. He pledged to end bad fiscal practices, such as filling holes in the budget by selling the city’s assets like the parking meter deal.
Here’s what he hopes to accomplish with his proposed budget for 2016: make a dent in the city’s underfunded police and fire pensions, move 300 police officers from behind desks to the streets, repave 300 miles of streets, add five more rodent-baiting crews and make improvements to airport access and travel security at Midway Airport.
Beginning next week, aldermen will go over the budget with department heads. A public hearing on the budget will be held at 11 a.m. on Oct. 14 at City Hall before it goes to the council for a vote.
Let’s take a look at how some revenue-generating taxes and fees can affect your wallet.
You could arrange for Uber or Lyft to pick you up at the airport legally, but there’s a catch. When the city passed its rules last year on ride-hailing services, it had banned Uber X and Lyft cars from picking up passengers at O’Hare and Midway airports and McCormick Place. With the change, the city would charge a $5 fee for every drop-off and pickup at the airports, McCormick Place and Navy Pier. Additionally, the 30 cent fee paid by passengers on every ride would go up to 50 cents. The mayor credited Ald. Edward Burke (14th) and Anthony Beale (9th) for proposing the surcharge idea on ride-hailing services and taxi rides to “help level the playing field between the industries while providing new services to customers.”
Your cab ride could get more expensive. Planned is a 15 percent increase in cab fare and a fee of 50 cents per ride. Currently, the base fare for a taxi ride is $3.25 plus $1.80 per additional mile plus 20 cents for every 36 seconds of time elapsed, plus up to $1 for an additional passenger.
Thought trading cigarettes for vaping would be better? Well, the city wants to add a new $1.25 tax on the sale of the e-cigarette devices plus a 25-cent tax per milliliter of the nicotine liquid to fill the cartridge. Last year, the city banned e-cigs from being used in indoor public places like bars and restaurants. In his speech, Emanuel said e-cigarettes are being used to lure children into smoking. He mentioned it was Ald. Proco “Joe” Moreno (1st) who proposed taxing e-cigarettes and chewing tobacco. “That will help our city’s bottom line while also improving our children’s health,” Emanuel said. However, some smokers use e-cigarettes to help them kick the habit.The $1 million of revenue generated by the new tax would be used to help open five health clinics over the next four years.
You could pay to get your garbage picked up. Only single-family homes and buildings of four units or fewer get city garbage services while high-rise and commercial buildings pay for private garbage haulers. The city is looking at charging $9.50 per household for a monthly garbage collection fee—a fee Emanuel said was proposed by aldermen and the city’s Inspector General Joe Ferguson.
Chicago Tribune contributed.
