Brandon Johnson allies suggest billions in new taxes - Action Center on Race and the Economy

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Some supporters of Mayor Brandon Johnson are out with a proposal they admit is an ambitious menu of possible new taxes to raise revenue for the city of Chicago.

ACRE, the Action Center on Race and the Economy, and the People’s Unity Platform put out a report outlining some $12 billion in possible taxes and spending cuts — a number of which have already been proposed or discussed by the newly inaugurated Johnson.

ACRE Co-Director Saqib Bhatti said it’s not just about raising more money but about who pays. He favors giving a break to lower-income people and small businesses while shifting the load to big companies that he says don’t pay their share.

Among the ideas to raise revenue is an income tax on households making more than $100,000, a so-called head tax on larger companies and a financial-transaction tax that has met with resistance from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

“I think the business community currently looks at Chicago as a bunch of chumps,” Bhatti said.