Salvation Army workers give a homeless man some supplies, including blankets and hand warmers, down on Lower Wacker Drive in February 2021.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
This year, Chicagoans will vote on a proposed title transfer tax increase: the Bring Chicago Home measure.
I fully support robust services for the homeless, but Bring Chicago Home would actually make it harder for families who rent homes.
We recently acquired four apartment buildings with a total of 90 units. All the apartments are run down. Our plans are to rehab them all: painting and carpeting all hallways, adding locks and intercoms to all currently unsecured entrances, and cleaning the buildings from previous rodent and roach infestation. We will rehab all the kitchens and baths, paint and refinish the floors, and add new insulated, secure back doors at a cost of about $15,000 per unit.
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We will bring professional property management services to these buildings, ensuring responsive service and repairs. We will do this all while maintaining affordable housing for the community we serve and providing respect and dignity to our residents.
Under the current title transfer tax, we paid $74,137 to the city. If passed, the new title transfer tax would be $199,912, a whopping $125,775 of additional taxes.
Under that scenario, should we lower the quality or scope of the rehab to cover this additional transfer tax cost? Right now, we expect that after these upgrades, these units will still rent at what is considered affordable. But under a tax increase, we’d either have to cut back on the quality of the rehab or increase the rent.
Any way you slice it, this additional tax will have the reverse effect that Bring Home Chicago intends to accomplish. It does not make housing more affordable or more available. It does not improve the quality of affordable housing. It is hard to see how this will help the homeless.
Contrary to popular opinion, neighborhood housing providers want to do right by their residents.
The sad reality is that Bring Chicago Home will drive out the neighborhood investors in favor of out-of-town corporate owners who don’t see people in their apartments; they see lines on a spreadsheet.
It’s time for City Hall to partner with local housing providers, small investors and owner-operators to find real solutions. The answer is more housing, not more taxes on housing.
Jeff Weinberg, Drexel Properties
Member, Neighborhood Business Owners Alliance
In the article about New Year’s resolutions, a picture shows a person stepping on a scale (“Why you should rethink weight loss as a New Year’s resolution” — Dec. 30).
If one wants to lose weight without going hungry, become a vegan. A pound of meat does not fill up a stomach. But a pound of greens does. Since I watch WTTW, I follow the diet of Dr. Joel Fuhrman. But follow your own course if you wish.
It all has to do with the density of a food. Greens, onions, beans, berries and seeds are low-density. Beef, lamb, and other animals are high-density foods. Lentils are a great meal starter.
One can make one’s own salad dressing with a Vitamix or other food processor. Mix a half cup of nuts (usually cashews, but not always), add a cup of non-dairy milk, then add dates, raisins, garlic and vinegars or whatever flavor one desires. Mix and voila, one has salad dressing without preservatives or other chemicals.
Janice Gintzler, Crestwood
