Chicago’s inspector general is offering Mayor Rahm Emanuel a $3 billion roadmap to financial stability that includes everything from a city income tax, commuter tax and tolls on Lake Shore Drive to privatizing garbage collection and converting 20 percent of all fire suppression apparatus to ambulances.
Although Emanuel has emphatically ruled out higher taxes, Ferguson is serving up 19 revenue generating ideas with tantalizing earning potential of $2.3 billion-a-year.
Chicago could raise $500 million-a-year by imposing a one percent city income tax, following New York City’s lead, the inspector general said.
A one percent commuter tax would have an annual take of $300 million. Resurrecting Emanuel’s controversial campaign promise to broaden the sales tax to an array of services not now covered — branded the “Rahm tax†by rivals — could yield $450 million.
Imposing a $5, London-style congestion fee on vehicles entering the city’s Central Business District during the morning and evening rush periods could raise $375 million, even after a 20 percent reduction in traffic to 400,000 vehicles-a-day.
Installing toll booths on Lake Shore Drive—and charging the average vehicle $2.50 — could raise $87.5 million, even after hefty capital costs.
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