Austin Berg, the director of the Chicago Policy Institute, joined Andrew Walworth, Tom Bevan, and Carl Cannon on Tuesday’s edition of the RealClearPolitics podcast to discuss what may be a brewing property tax “revolt” in the Windy City, in the face of the largest increase in residential property taxes in 30 years. “The median bill went up 16% in just one year,” Berg explained. “But that’s actually not the whole story. The real big gut punch came from the fact that in the Loop, in the downtown core, commercial property values are going down. They went down 7%. So who makes up that cost? Homeowners.” “Budget season in Chicago is like what Drew Carey used to say on ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’ which is, the rules are made up and the points don’t matter,” he quipped. “I do think there’s an enormous sea change in Chicago, specifically around the mayor, who has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the history of Chicago, and the Chicago Teachers Union, which is really the political machine and has the lowest approval rating it’s ever had.” “Mayor Brandon Johnson acted like he had an overwhelming mandate. He had the smallest margin of victory in the history of Chicago mayoral elections. He won by about 30,000 votes. And then he started acting like a Chicago Teachers Union activist. And then it’s no wonder he’s got a 14% approval rating,” Berg said. “We see in Chicago 30 to 40% of our budget every year – and this is a $ 16 billion budget this year, so you’re talking billions of dollars a year – goes to debt and pensions,” he explained. “And that’s by far the highest share of any other big city in the country. That’s where the money is actually going, and it’s a moral catastrophe.” “I think the really important thing for Chicago is the power to reorganize its debt. We are the only big city in the country that cannot enter Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection,” Berg suggested. “I’m not saying we need to enter it tomorrow, but having the mechanism on the table – and that requires a change in state law – is so important because it forces the tough decisions that you’re talking about, right? Otherwise, why would a government union come to the bargaining table if they don’t think this thing could go belly up if we don’t get serious about reform?”
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