A local state representative is proposing to increase sales taxes in Cook and five surrounding counties to provide funds for public transportation, as the Chicago Transit Authority heads towards another “Doomsday.”
Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Evanston) is co-sponsoring a bill that would help fund public transportation by raising sales taxes a quarter-cent in Cook County and a half-cent in Lake, DuPage, Will, McHenry and Kane counties. The bill would also allow Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and Chicago’s City Council to raise taxes for transferring real estate by up to three-tenths of a percent.
The plan would generate about $435 million each year for the Regional Transportation Authority, which includes the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra trains and Pace buses. In five counties outside Cook County, the bill would also increase sales taxes the additional quarter of a percent to fund improvements of infrastructure, such as roads and bridges.
The CTA has continued to struggle recently, planning severe “Doomsday” cuts and fare increases. Cuts originally planned for Sept. 16 and Nov. 4 were postponed due to last-minute grants and loans from the state. But barring further action, the CTA will lay off more than 2,400 employees, increase fares to $3.25 during peak hours and cut 81 bus routes, including all CTA buses in Evanston, on Jan. 20.
But Hamos said her bill is not about saving the CTA.
“This is not a CTA bailout,” Hamos said. “I’m a regional thinker. I don’t just think of myself as representing the people in my district.”
Hamos is the chairwoman of the state’s House Mass Transit Committee and said she started working on the bill three years ago after an audit revealed the RTA was in serious financial trouble. The RTA has been funded by sales taxes since 1983.
“It wasn’t that far-fetched to go with the sales tax because that has been the base for 24 years,” Hamos said. “It’s a modest increase.”
The House voted on the bill Sept. 4 but it was defeated by 10 votes. The bill needs a three-fifths vote to pass. Gov. Rod Blagojevich has said he would veto the bill.
According to a Chicago Tribune article, a spokeswoman for Blagojevich said Hamos’ proposal has not passed “because many lawmakers, like the governor, do not want to pile onto Chicago’s already high taxes.”
Hamos’ sales tax bill is currently being held in the state House, attached to a bill that provides infrastructure funding.
Ian Savage, associate chairman of Northwestern’s economics department, said he thinks the bill is well thought-out and a reasonable long-term solution.
“In general, I’m very sympathetic to the bill because I think Julie Hamos has done her homework and I think she’s one of the few representatives who have taken this problem seriously,” he said.
However, he also said he’s concerned about the bill’s effect on the CTA.
“I think it’s just rewarding the CTA for its inefficiencies,” Savage said.
Savage said the linked infrastructure bill is a way to drum up support from legislators outside Chicago.
“This is a transit problem and the funding solution only affects the six counties,” Savage said. “Why I think this bill runs into problems is if you’re a representative from Carbondale (in Southern Illinois), you might want to say the state needs to be raising more general money for transportation.”
Reach Annie Martin at [email protected].
