CHICAGO –(ENEWSPF)—October 28, 2015. Today the Chicago City Council passed Mayor Emanuel’s 2016 budget by a vote of 36-14. The 2016 budget contains regressive revenue solutions such as a garbage collection fee, privatization, and an unequitable property tax increase instead of the much needed structural reforms that force Wall Street and LaSalle Street to pay their fair share.
The budget passed today does not incorporate the feedback of residents who spoke during the public budget hearings. Mayor Emanuel also chose not to listen to numerous Aldermen. On Monday, with only one exception, each of the budget amendments put forward by the Chicago Progressive Caucus were tabled. The Progressive Caucus amendments would have generated millions in revenue through TIF reforms and forcing the wealthy to pay their fair share instead of squeezing neighborhood residents.
Following the budget vote, Amisha Patel, Executive Director of Grassroots Collaborative, stated, “Rahm Emanuel chose to push a massive property tax increase onto Chicago working families instead of pursuing a myriad of solutions that would have shifted the greatest burden to those most able to pay. Chicago should recover hundreds of millions of dollars that we have handed over to Wall Street banks as cities like Houston have done. The City could have insourced pension fund management and other financial services instead of privatizing more clinics in Black and Brown neighborhoods. It’s time for the Mayor to choose working families, not Wall Street.”
Source: www.grassrootscollaborative.org
