The March 19 primary elections are less than one month away and early voting has begun! We’re urging you and your community members to support Bring Chicago Home on the ballot.
Supporters of Bring Chicago Home at a 2023 rally.
Illinois Partners for Human Service believes that housing is a human right and that prevention services and stable housing opportunities are necessary to cultivate a thriving, healthy state.
The ballot initiative will fund affordable housing and invest in programs that prevent homelessness by amending the one-time real estate tax. The restructure will lower the tax on properties sold for less than $1 million (94% of Chicago home-buyers), and generate funding by increasing the tax for anyone buying a property for over $1 million. All revenue from this small tax will be used to support Chicago’s unhoused community members and create new jobs in construction to build new housing or rehabilitate buildings to preserve existing housing.
You may have heard that there was a recent ruling by Cook County courts to deny Chicagoans the opportunity to vote on this issue. This is voter suppression, and it’s being carried out by a small minority of the wealthy real estate industry who want to strip Chicagoans of popular policies that help poor-, working-class, and middle-class people who call this City home. Chicago has filed a stay with the court and it will be appealed in higher court. You can read the campaign’s statement on this ruling here. Despite confusing headlines, Bring Chicago Home is still on the ballot, and we are encouraging everyone to vote YES on Ballot Question 1!
Your organization can support Bring Chicago Home by talking to your community about it and sharing campaign materials on social media, making a donation, attending the fundraiser on March 5, or volunteering with the campaign.
You can find BCH on Twitter (@BringChiHome), Instagram (@BringChicagoHome), Facebook (Bring Chicago Home), and TikTok (@bringchihome).
What you’ll see on the ballot:
| “Shall the City of Chicago impose: 1) a real estate transfer tax decrease of 20% to establish a new transfer tax rate of $3 for every $500 of the transfer price, or fraction thereof, for that part of the transfer price under $1,000,000 to be paid by the buyer of the real estate transferred unless the buyer is exempt from the tax solely by operation of state law, in which case the tax is to be paid by the seller; AND (2) a real estate transfer tax increase of 166.67% to establish a new transfer tax rate of $10 for every $500 of the transfer price or fraction thereof, for that part of the transfer price between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000 (inclusive) to be paid by the buyer of the real estate transferred unless the buyer is exempt from the tax solely by operation of state law, in which case the tax is to be paid by the seller; AND (3) a real estate transfer tax increase of 300% to establish a new transfer tax rate of $15 for every $500 of the transfer price, or fraction thereof, for that part of the transfer price exceeding $1,500,000 to be paid by the buyer of the real estate transferred unless the buyer is exempt from the tax solely by operation of state law, in which case the tax is to be paid by the seller? The current rate of the real estate transfer tax is $3.75 per $500 of the entire transfer price, or fraction thereof, and the revenue is used for general corporate purposes. The revenue from the increase (the difference between revenue generated under the increased rate and the current rate) is to be used for the purpose of addressing homelessness, including providing permanent affordable housing and the services necessary to obtain and maintain permanent housing in the City of Chicago.”
Establishing a New Real Estate Tax: Yes / No |
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