OpEd on “Bring Chicago Home” Referendum Co-authored by Kenneth Allen, Gayatri Reddy and Anna Guevarra
Voting ends tomorrow for an important referendum on the ballot in Chicago called “Bring Chicago Home” that will address houselessness in the City. As part of their ongoing work on the Dis/Placements project, Kenny Allen (Graduate Research Assistant in the Dis/Placements Project), Gayatri Reddy and Anna Guevarra, co-authored an OpEd that was published on March 18, 2024 on TruthOut that speaks to this referendum.
Entitled, “Chicago Ballot Amendment Would Tax Real Estate Moguls To Fight Homelessness,” it discusses how allowing real estate interests to shape public policy will not restore housing agency to the people of Chicago.
It was never a surprise that wealthy real estate interests would fight an effort like Bring Chicago Home,” says Asha Ransby Sporn, the campaign director of the Bring Chicago Home referendum campaign. The Bring Chicago Home ballot amendment would shift the city’s flat-rate Real Estate Transfer Tax of .75 percent to a graduated system, with a 0.6 percent tax on sales under $1 million, and a 2-3 percent progressive tax on sales over $1 million. The money earned through this measure is designed to serve as a source of funding to address affordable housing, especially for those experiencing homelessness in Chicago.
Read the complete op-ed here: https://truthout.org/articles/chicago-ballot-amendment-would-tax-real-estate-moguls-to-fight-homelessness/.