‘Bring Chicago Home’ Real Estate Transfer Tax Officially Defeated

On Friday, the one-time real estate transfer tax referendum, intended to generate revenue to address homelessness, was officially voted down.& Chicago voters rejected the referendum, backed by Mayor Brandon Johnson, that would have incrementally raised the city’s real estate transfer tax on properties valued at more than $1 million. The measure would’ve also lowered the transfer tax for properties under $1 million, which comprise the majority of property sales in the city.& & While the defeat of the measure, referred to as “Bring Chicago Home,” was seen as a referendum on Mayor Johnson’s administration, what it represented, had it passed, was a city-generated revenue source to address the unrelenting issue of homelessness in Chicago, supporters say. In a city where Black Chicagoans make up more than half (53%) of the total population experiencing homelessness, the transfer tax would have generated $100 million for mental health services, job training and educational opportunities for the unhoused, its proponents say.& & However, opponents of the tax, especially local real estate and business groups, said that it unfairly targeted commercial businesses. Those opponents, which comprised the Building Owners and Managers Association and others, initially sued the city’s Board of Elections to remove the referendum...