(Editor’s note: Today’s cartoon arrived with a note from cartoonist Scott Stantis containing a link to this Chicago Tribune article. An excerpt appears below the cartoon.)

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Rahm Emanuel

 

From the article that inspired the cartoon:

As the Chicago City Council prepares to approve his latest budget Wednesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel repeatedly has reminded voters that he didn’t raise city property taxes during his first four years in office.

But that doesn’t mean homeowners haven’t had to pay. Under Emanuel, vehicle stickers cost more. Cable TV and phone taxes went up. And water and sewer fees increased significantly.

Taken separately, the tax and fee hikes are less noticeable than a property tax increase that would have jumped out at homeowners when the tax bill arrived. That’s made it easier for the mayor to sell his spending plans to aldermen, who like Emanuel have to face voters Feb. 24.

Taken together, Emanuel’s hikes mean the typical Chicago family will pay about $481 more to the city next year than it did in 2011. That’s the equivalent of a typical Chicago homeowner paying 60 percent more in city property taxes, which are nearly $800 a year for city and library services on a $250,000 home.

“Taxes have gone up under this administration,” said Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th, who has voted for the mayor’s budgets but thinks the city needs to be more frank with taxpayers. “A lot of it was necessary, but let’s be honest with the people. They have gone up. The cost of being in Chicago has gone up since 2011.”

Emanuel’s budget chief said the administration has asked taxpayers for more money only as a last resort after making significant cuts, and argued the water and sewer fee hikes are going toward updating an antiquated system.

Read the whole article here.

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