Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is poised to roll out the largest property tax hike for residents in modern history.
If only they’ll be alive to pay them.
Nine people were killed Wednesday, making it the deadliest day in the city since at least 2010, DNA info reports.
Among the dead was an 11-year-old boy, who was accidentally shot by a family member; a 60-year-old man; as well as several young men.
The boy reportedly found the gun outside and thought it was a toy.
The 60-year-old man was shot in the head in an incident police suspect is drug-related. Most of the other victims were in their teens or 20s.
According to the news site, there have been 1,549 shootings and 286 homicides in the city so far this year.
Meanwhile, Emanuel wants property owners to pay more to live in the chaos.
“The mayor is considering a property tax hike of between $450 million and $550 million for police and fire pensions, but he has yet to settle on a final number,” a City Hall source tells the Chicago Tribune.
He’s also planning to announce new taxes on garbage collection, a new per-ride fee on taxis and ride-hailing services like Uber, as well as on electronic cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products.
Chicago Public Schools is getting in on the tax-raising act, too.
City aldermen are proposing a $50 million hike for school construction.
The Tribune notes Emanuel attacked his opponent Jesus “Chuy” Garcia for voting for a previous tax increase. The one he’s proposing is three times that size, according to the paper.
“It’s not as if we weren’t warned,” says Alderman Joe Moore. “We have known for several years that the pension shortfall was going to cause us to make some really painful decisions, particularly if we didn’t receive any relief from Springfield, and we didn’t receive any relief from Springfield.”
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