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Chicago’s City Council picked up where state legislative leaders left off, passing a $3 increase in the real estate transfer tax on Wednesday in an effort to make the Chicago Transit Authority’s pension system solvent. 

The council action means buyers of any property in the city must pay $10.50 for every $1,000 of sale price. The measure is set to take effect April 1. 

The city’s current real estate transfer tax charges buyers $7.50 for every $1,000 of sale price.  Sellers are not subjected to city taxes, but must pay a combined county and state tax of $1.50 for every $1,000 of sale price. 

The final vote was 42-6 in favor of increasing the transfer tax. 

Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) was absent because she had jury duty. Ald. Walter Burnett, Jr. (27th) abstained from the vote. 

The debate among the council members grew heated at times, with aldermen and Mayor Richard M. Daley yelling at each other for pledging to vote for or against the increase. 

Proponents of the increase said they did not want to vote for it, but would because the city could not afford any cuts in CTA service.

“If you have the courage, stand and say to the CTA, ‘Bypass my ward,’” Daley screamed in the direction of Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd). “But you won’t.”

Fioretti was one of the six voting against the increase. He was joined by Sandi Jackson (7th), Sharon Denise Dixon (24th), Rey Colon (35th), Bernie Stone (50th) and Brian Doherty (41st), the council’s lone Republican.   

Daley continued his diatribe, finally saying, “Those who want to run for higher political office, vote ‘No,’” a dig at some aldermanic opponents who are rumored to be seeking higher office. 

Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th), a longtime mayoral ally, tried to guilt his fellow aldermen into voting for the tax increase. 

“If the aldermanic election were in three days, everyone would vote yes, no question,” he said.  “Join the club of heavy lifting.  Let’s keep the buses running.” 

But Carothers’ exhortations angered Doherty, who fired back. 

Doherty blamed Carothers and other aldermen who double as Democratic ward committeemen for helping put into power state representatives and senators who ushered through the legislation demanding the tax increase.

“How many Democratic committeemen are sitting on the floor who put state representatives and senators in Springfield?” he said. “I made a promise not to vote for a property tax increase. This is a property tax increase.”

Stone, who voiced his opposition at an earlier meeting of the finance committee as well as at the general meeting, was more frank in his assessment of the situation. 

He railed against the tax increase, suggesting to his fellow aldermen that Springfield would only pay attention if the council played hardball and forced the CTA to halt services. 

“Don’t act like jellyfish. They’ll roll you over like a steamroller, which is exactly what they’re doing,” Stone said of the Illinois General Assembly.  “They took one year, and you took 50 hours to succumb to their crap!”

Ald. Tom Allen (38th) said the council had to make the “difficult” decision to approve the increase to ensure the CTA continued running.  But he also said he objected to the method and manner in which the council approached the transfer tax increase. 

Instead of charging the buyer of any residential, commercial or industrial real estate the additional $3 per every $1,000 of sale price, Allen suggested that the council enact legislation to apply the additional charge to sellers, who he says make enough profit from selling their houses. 

“What we’re doing now is shifting it, and adding it to the buyer’s side, when we really should be thinking this through and apportioning it fairly on the other side of the column,” he said. 

Allen said he and Ald. Patrick O’Connor (40th) would introduce legislation that would apply the increase to the seller instead of further burdening buyers.  Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) had previously proposed the idea, and Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th) agreed with Allen, saying the council should focus on “allocation of the tax, rather than imposition of the tax.” 

When asked at a press conference after the meeting whether he supported the idea of splitting the increase between buyer and seller, Daley said he was “open-minded” to the proposal.