Chicago Teachers Union demands $543K property tax break on union HQ
The Chicago Teachers Union is seeking a $543k property tax cut that would take about $301K from the schools where its members teach. CTU’s also making over $10 billion in contract demands, which would certainly drive up Chicagoans’ tax bills.
The Chicago Teachers Union is unhappy that its property tax bill will be roughly doubling, so it is working to cut the tax bill by $543,352 – which would take about $301,000 from Chicago Public Schools.
That, as CTU is making over $10 billion in contract demands sure to drive up the average Chicagoan’s taxes.
The union, through its foundation, paid $568,221 in property taxes for 2023 on its headquarters near the United Center. The taxes reflected a market value of $10.7 million.
But the Cook County Assessor put the market value at $19.4 million in 2024 when it did its regular three-year reassessment. That would have yielded a property tax bill of over $1 million, according to the appraiser hired by the Chicago Teachers Union Foundation.
The Cook County Clerk’s office said 55.4% of a Chicagoan’s property tax bill goes to Chicago Public Schools, meaning the CTU would pay about $554,000 to the school district.
But if the CTU wins an appeal of its assessment, it would cut that contribution by more than half, leaving schools where CTU members teach with $301,017 less.
The private appraiser set a market value of $9.2 million – lower than the county’s old market-value assessment. If CTU succeeds in its tax appeal, it would pay less in property taxes than it did in 2023.
The appraisers argued the property tax would be burdensome on renters and discourage buyers.
While CTU leaders are appealing to reduce their “burdensome” property taxes, they are making contract demands in excess of $10 billion.
The CTU is currently negotiating with CPS administrators and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former CTU organizer who’s mayoral campaign was bankrolled by the union. Union contract demands include social, economic and environmental justice pushes in addition to 9% annual raises expected to boost the average teacher from $93,182 up to $144,620 in the 2027-2028 school year.
CPS just passed a $9.9 billion budget, but it fails to factor in any raises resulting from CTU negotiations. The district budget will be in the red as soon as a new contract is signed.
CTU and its leaders have a history of advocating “rules for thee, but not for me.”
CTU President Stacy Davis Gates came under fire in September 2023 after it was revealed she choose to send her son to private school despite pressuring lawmakers to kill a bill providing school choice for over 9,600 low-income students in Illinois.
It was also discovered that Davis Gates, who earns more than $289,000 a year and has repeatedly called for the rich to pay their fair share of taxes, was claiming an owner occupancy exemption for a house she’s owned since 2006 in South Bend, Indiana, despite signing a Chicago residency pledge two years earlier.
After it was revealed that Davis Gates actually lived in Chicago with her husband and three children during that time, she was ordered to pay $1,533 in back taxes and penalties to the St. Joseph County auditor’s office.
And Davis Gates didn’t pay her city trash, sewer and water bills for nearly four years, allowing what she owed the city to top $5,500.
CTU leaders are right to be worried about their property taxes going up. Higher property taxes ultimately drive-up rent prices, make real estate less attractive to new buyers and leaves less for other bills and needs.
Chicagoans are likely to learn that all over again if CTU gets its taxes cut – shifting the burden to other property owners – and gets it billions in contract demands – which other property owners will be forced to pay. Taxes for thee, but less tax for me.