No new taxes, just fees
Chicago would raise a monthly emergency service surcharge on phone lines to free up $50 million in operating funds to increase its payments to two city pension funds under a proposed ordinance introduced last Wednesday. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and 36 city council members backed the ordinance, which would increase the current surcharge, generating an additional estimated $12 million this year and $40 million next year. The measure would allow Chicago to avoid a hike in property taxes, which are largely used to fund the city’s four retirement systems.