No surprise here: Aldermen completed the CTA bailout on Wednesday by passing a 40-percent transfer-tax increase for most (but not all) property buyers, the Trib reports.
Transfer taxes will rise from $7.50 per $1,000 of sale price to $10.50 starting April 1. The hike could generate as much as $2.3 billion for CTA pensions over the next 30 years.
Six aldermen voted against the bill, much to the chagrin of the mayor. Daley had some choice words for those who didn’t fall in line behind the increase.
After the vote, Mayor Richard Daley claimed that the City Council “is not a rubber stamp” and that its 50 members “vote their consciences.”
But minutes earlier, he angrily castigated a half-dozen aldermen who opposed the tax increase ordinance, saying they were taking the soft way out of a tough situation.
“It is easy to crawl out of here,” he declared. “It is easy to say no.”
Daley challenged the six to “Stand up and say, ‘I want the CTA to bypass my ward.'”
He said that under the outrage by constituents that would result, “You won’t last one day.”
Seniors keep reaping the benefits of this CTA deal. Buyers 65 and older can apply for a refund if they purchase homes priced at $250,000 or less and attest to living in them for a year. The deal is also contingent on the CTA letting disabled veterans and active military personnel ride for free.
Always amusing to see Mayor Fulmination continuing to deflect any and all blame from his lonesome for allowing the CTA crisis to keep festering on his watch, until this ridiculous bill was introduced. The man has never taken responsibility for anything going wrong in his tenure – the Teflon Don had nothing compared to this guy.
But the voters keep re-electing him…while many if not most Chicagoans of voting age don’t even bother to show up on election day because they “know the outcome.” Ah yes, old-line dictatorships are alive and well in New Millennium Chicago!
It almost makes one long for the good old days of the Washington/Epton race and “Council Wars.” Not that I approve of the ugly race-baiting, etc., but at least it was a CONTEST and there was always a question of which side will win! You know, democracy and all that.
I am pleased to see the CTA will stay afloat, that seniors and vets will ride for free. I am also pleased my closing date is this month.
Da Mare does his best DeNiro in “The Untouchables” impersonation.
The reason he keeps winning is that NO ONE of any credibility and/or reputation will challenge him. Simple as that.