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Pat Quinn Brings Take Charge Chicago Petition Drive to City Hall


Record-Breaking Property Tax Hike “Underlines the Need for Mayoral Term Limits and a Full-time Consumer Advocate”

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CHICAGO –(ENEWSPF)–July 6, 2016.   Pat Quinn today brought the Take Charge Chicago petition drive to City Hall just as beleaguered Chicago homeowners began receiving their property tax bills with a record-shattering $543 million increase.

The Take Charge Chicago referendums would term limit Chicago’s Mayor and establish an elected Consumer Advocate. They would be the first binding referendums in memory once 100,000 signatures are collected.

Chicago is the only city among the nation’s ten largest without mayoral term limits. New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Houston all have term limits on their mayors.

“Ben Franklin once said death and taxes were inevitable, but he never said it’s inevitable to be taxed to death,” Quinn said. “This tax hike on the backs of everyday people in Chicago underlines the need for mayoral term limits and a full-time Consumer Advocate for taxpayers.”

The current Mayor announced the historic property tax hike just after his reelection. His $543 million increase easily eclipsed the previous record increase – $88 million – imposed by the previous Mayor just after he was reelected to his 6th term.

Chicagoans already pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation, on top of artificial fees such as red-light cameras and the brand-new garbage collection fee which appeared on recent water bills.

For a $250,000 home, homeowners will see a $300 increase.

“Everywhere I went over the holiday, from Sauganash to Jackson Park to Uptown, people were steamed about this outrageous tax hike,” Quinn said.  On Sunday, Quinn unveiled a new campaign video titled “Revolution” which can be viewed at TakeChargeChicago.org/Revolution.

An elected Consumer Advocate will stand up for taxpayers and will fight for fairness and equality in the tax code.

Former Illinois Governor Quinn also served as Commissioner of the Cook County Board of (Tax) Appeals (1982-86), the nation’s largest property tax appeal agency.

The Take Charge Chicago referendum on mayoral term limits would read as follows: “Shall Chicago adopt the following term limit for the office of Mayor effective for the mayoral election in 2019 and thereafter: No person may hold the office of Mayor for more than two consecutive elected 4-year terms (with all prior consecutive terms of the current officeholder counted in determining the term limit for that officeholder)?”

The Take Charge Chicago referendum on an elected Consumer Advocate would read as follows: “Shall Chicago establish an elected Consumer Advocate for taxpayers and consumers to replace the appointed Commissioner of the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection?” Currently the Commissioner is appointed by the Mayor.

Anyone interested in circulating or signing the referendums to term limit the Mayor and elect a Consumer Advocate should contact Take Charge Chicago, PO Box 8048, Chicago, IL 60680, or call 773-999-2016. Visit TakeChargeChicago.org to download a petition, find Take Charge Chicago on Facebook and follow @TakeChargeChi on Twitter.

Source: Take Charge Chicago

 

 

 


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