Dan Proft was joined by Mark Glennon, founder of Wirepoints.org, for a weekly discussion on Illinois policy, focusing on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s failed attempt to pass a $600 million tax increase package and the escalating property tax crisis.
Proft began by playing clips of Mayor Johnson marketing his proposed tax increases to the City Council. Johnson argued that the safest communities in America “invest in people” (a concept Proft equated with redistributing money and growing government) and stated that the budget was about making the “ultra rich” and “big corporations” pay their “fair share” instead of taxing “working Chicagoans.”
When the tax plan failed to pass, Mayor Johnson addressed concerns that taxing businesses could hurt the city, saying, “There is no correlation between taxation and… the success, if you will, of corporations. What we do know though is there is a correlation between safety and population and businesses.” He claimed the proposed “community safety surcharge” would go toward strengthening the city and driving down violence.
Glennon reacted to Johnson’s statement that taxation has no correlation with business success, echoing Proft’s term “sociopathic lying” to describe the level of untruth from politicians.
“You got to wonder if he really believes that… or are they just sociopathic… It really has become an epidemic of sociopathic lying,” Glennon said.
Glennon argued that property taxes translate directly into higher rental bills for downtown businesses, which directly affects their operational costs and success. He also pointed out the hypocrisy of the taxes hitting the poor hardest.
Proft and Glennon discussed the rapid escalation of property taxes in Chicago. Proft noted that while a Lincoln Park resident saw a tax increase of about 30%, Black neighborhoods were hit much harder, citing a previous report showing:
- 80% increase for Englewood residents
- 100% increase for North Lawndale residents
- 130% increase for West Garfield Park residents
Glennon stated that the massive increase—a 78% jump in the Chicago budget since 2019—combined with plummeting commercial property assessments (due to work-from-home trends and crime, not COVID-19, he noted) means the tax burden is being aggressively shifted to residential property owners.
Proft then played a clip of Richard Townsel, a North Lawndale resident and executive director of the Lawndale Christian Development Corporation, who saw his property taxes jump by nearly 76%. Townsel spoke about the necessity of citizens demanding accountability and forcing the government to “learn how to live in their means” instead of perpetually increasing taxes.
Glennon called Townsel’s actions and comments “good news” and a development “we’ve been waiting for,” as property tax rage is growing, and Illinois still has the highest residential property taxes in the country.
Glennon concluded by framing property tax hikes as a “slow motion seizure of wealth,” especially for lower-income residents whose home equity is often their only means of building generational wealth.
“They’re stealing it. They’re taking it. It’s a seizure of wealth. That’s exactly what it is. A slow motion seizure of wealth,” Glennon stated.
Mark Glennon’s policy analysis can be found at Wirepoints.org.