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“With all the high crime, bad schools and empty downtown office
buildings we’re seeing, the city is facing the real risk of
being stuck in the doom loop, where things across the board just
continue to spiral out of control,” Dabrowski told The Center
Square. “I think it all starts with all the high taxes that pose
such a big problem for all the businesses.”
A new Lincoln Institute of Land Policy study finds Chicago is
now home to the second highest commercial property taxes in the
country, with most of the high cost stemming from government
spending and the high taxes that are being passed on to tenants
in the form of higher rents. Only Detroit's is higher.
At 3.78 percent, commercial property taxes across the city are
more than double the U.S. average for the largest cities in each
state. Over the past decade, total taxes billed in the city have
jumped from $1.98 billion in tax year 2011 to $3.82 billion,
making for a 93% increase over that time. In Central Illinois,
commercial taxes now average in the neighborhood of $150,000
annually for some of the city’s largest businesses.
“All the data shows we’re already chasing businesses away to
other states with all the taxing that only shifts more of the
burden on to them,” Dabrowski said. “We’re seeing more and more
of these businesses just packing up and heading for states that
are much more business-friendly.”
With things being the way they are in Illinois and showing few
signs of changing any time soon, Dabrowski said he can’t see how
new Mayor Brandon Johnson can possibly make good on his promise
not to raise property taxes.
“It’s a real problem with all the added spending he’s promised,”
he said. “If he really wants to spend all that money and meet
all his promises, he’s almost certainly going to have to
continue to raise taxes.”
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