Some aldermen give cold shoulder to utility tax hike for pensions

Warning that a taxpayer "revolt is upon us," aldermen on Tuesday gave the cold shoulder to Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to raise utility taxes to save the largest of Chicago's four city employee pension funds.

Top mayoral aides will hold a series of closed-door aldermanic briefings Wednesday to outline the mayor's plan to reform and fund a Municipal Employees Pension fund with 71,000 members and $18.6 billion in unfunded liabilities.

Aldermen who draw their own retirement checks from the Municipal pension fund are going into those meetings loaded for bear. That's after the Chicago Sun-Times lifted the veil on Emanuel's plan to steer clear of a third straight property-tax increase and generate the $250 million to $300 million in new annual revenue needed by raising utility taxes instead.

"A utility tax hits the working class - my community - the hardest. Just like the gas tax. Just like the garbage fee. It's an add-on. It hits the folks who can least afford it. Rents are going up. People will not be able to afford a home, let alone heat it," said Alderman George Cardenas, chairman of the City Council's Hispanic Caucus.

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