LORIFACTS:
Fact-Checking Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Budget Address
On October 23, Mayor Lightfoot delivered a budget she claims enshrined progressive priorities. Below, we take a closer look at her claims.
Funding to Address Homelessness
The Claim:
“This budget also prioritizes homelessness and affordable housing with new dollars to address the needs of Chicago’s most vulnerable residents...These investments are particularly focused on Chicago’s young people experiencing homelessness, and alone will reduce youth homelessness by 25 percent.”
The Facts:
The 2020 budget includes just $10 million to address homelessness--far short of the $100 million Mayor Lightfoot pledged to support as candidate.
Half of this is dedicated to reduce youth homelessness and projects a 25% decrease based on the city’s “point in time” count, which counted 811 youth living on the street and NOT the 17,000 young people who live doubled-up with family and friends, which is the primary way that young people experience homelessness. Reducing youth homelessness by 203 people will therefore address just 1% of the young people experiencing homelessness.
Additionally, with over 86,000 people experiencing homeleness in Chicago, 80% of whom are people of color, this totals just $79 per person, which is insufficient and does not demonstrate that this is a priority.
Expanding Free, Public Mental Health Care
The Claim:
“Chicago will be making long-needed and long-overdue investments in our mental health infrastructure...This budget supports our plan, which will see tens of thousands more residents served through better access to care.”
The Facts:
Since 2012, the city has cut 50 frontline positions in mental health clinics. The current budget does not add a single position among clinic staff.
The funds the Mayor says will go to mental health appear to be allocated entirely to outside contractors (e.g. privatization), via a $9.6 increase in contracted services in the CDPH budget. Outside contractors do NOT provide better care than CDPH clinics; 30% of private providers have a waitlist and 85% of them charge co-pays.
Taxing Those Who Can Most Afford to Pay
The Facts:
The new forms of revenue in the Mayor’s proposed budget include a Restaurant Tax ($20 million), adding parking meters in West Loop ( $7 million), Rideshare Tax ($40 million), and a Real Estate Transfer Tax ($50 million). The first three measures are regressive, because the burden of cost will be felt more by those who have less. Restaurant and rideshare companies will raise their prices to offset the tax, further punishing those who rely on restaurants and rideshare services in neighborhoods where groceries and public transit are not widely available.
The Claim:
“I gave you my word that while Chicago faces a historic budget deficit, we will not close that gap on the backs of our working families...this budget includes $352 million in new revenue. But just as with our efficiencies, these new sources are rooted in progressive economic, financial and social policy.”
Taking Local Action to Make the Donor Class Pay
The Facts:
While it’s true pre-emption and home-rule laws limit the city’s options, there have been three proposals introduced that can be passed directly by City Council: Corporate Head Tax ($100 million), negotiating payments with landholding not-for-profit institutions ($200 million), and automatic TIF surpluses ($400 million). None of these measures were included in the 2020 budget.
Additionally, the Real Estate Transfer Tax can be approved directly by voters via a ballot referendum, if Springfield fails to pass it. A resolution has been introduced that would give voters a chance to weigh in, but the Mayor’s team has stalled a hearing on it.
The Claim:
“We will need cooperation from Springfield in order to get this done.”
Divest from Failed Policing Tactics
The Claim:
The Mayor did not make any claims regarding police spending in her address.
The Facts:
The Mayor is proposing to increase the police budget by $121.5 million in 2020, making up 40% of the corporate fund. This does not include police misconduct settlements and lawsuits, which come out of debt services and totaled $198 million last year alone.
The 2020 budget increase puts 160 more police and fire on streets. Despite having more officers than any other major (1M+) city in the country, Chicago is far from the safest. More police on the streets does not automatically translate to more public safety.
