Progressive Property Tax Proposal Dies in Less Than 24 Hours

A progressive property tax proposal from mayoral candidate, Susana Mendoza, is dead less than 24 hours after it was proposed. "Having caught a fair amount of heat, this specific idea now appears very much on the back burner," Greg Heinz writes for Crains Chicago Business. The plan, which would have taxed more expensive residential properties at higher rates than cheap ones has been scrapped.

After a property tax scandal cost County Accessor Joseph Berrios, his job, many have been looking for a more equitable way for the city to collect revenue. Mendoza, the state comptroller and a mayoral hopeful, had suggested a tiered property tax system that would be more progressive than the flat tax that currently exists in Illinois in her wide ranging “Future Now” plan. That plan has since been amended.

Mendoza now says a tiered plan might not be the best way to achieve the kind of just tax system she was aiming for, but maintains she will work with new County Accessor Fritz Kaegi to create a property tax system that is "fully transparent."