The Chicago Board of Elections announced Tuesday it would appeal a Cook County judge’s decision last week invalidating the Bring Chicago Home referendum question. While the question remains on physical ballots, votes on the issue will not be counted unless any appeals of the judge’s decision prevail. The primary election is March 19.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Burke on Friday ruled in favor of opponents to the referendum question. That group was led by the Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago and joined by the Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance, the Chicagoland Apartment Association, and other real estate interests.
Opponents took issue with the three-part nature of the referendum question: it asked voters whether the city should raise the real estate transfer tax rate — a one-time charge on property sales — on property values over $1 million and lower them slightly on those under $1 million. The suit also alleged the city’s plans on how it would spend the estimated $100 million in additional revenues to address homelessness were unclear.
Attorneys for Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration asked the county judge yesterday to halt enforcement of the order during the appeal process. Opponents shot back in a court filing Tuesday, arguing the city had no standing because the judge already ruled the city could not intervene in the case. The city requested to intervene a little more than a month after the suit was filed against the Chicago Board of Elections earlier this year.
The city’s only relief “is to appeal the denial of its petition to intervene. That’s it and that’s all,” Michael Kasper and Michael Del Galdo, attorneys for real estate interests, wrote in the Tuesday filing.
The city disagreed, saying in a separate filing it had “a direct, immediate and substantial interest in the subject matter.”
City attorneys also filed notices to appeal with the circuit court and at the Illinois Appellate Court. Text of the actual appeal was not yet available early Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Board of Elections’ appeal — also at the state appellate court — will reiterate its argument that the board is not the appropriate party for the lawsuit, the city is. The board had moved to dismiss the initial suit and argued it was not a policymaker, just the printer of ballots. Burke denied the board’s motion to dismiss.
Max Bever, the director of public information for the board, said in a Tuesday statement that the board would request an expedited review from the appellate court on that issue.
Johnson and Bring Chicago Home supporters who have been fighting for a steady funding stream to combat homelessness for several years are still encouraging voters to turn out and vote yes, equating legal efforts to defeat the question to voter suppression.
Michael Glasser, President of the Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance of Chicago, told the Tribune Tuesday he thinks real estate interests will prevail.
The appeal “doesn’t change the fact that this is still a misleading referendum and it’s bad policy,” he said, adding his organization would still encourage Chicagoans to vote no during the pending appeals.
