By Dave McKinney
CHICAGO, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's bid to hike property taxes by a record $543 million faces major hurdles in the state capital where the Illinois government is locked in its own budget battle for nearly four months.
Emanuel laid out a 2016 budget plan filled with tax hikes and budget cuts on Tuesday in an attempt to fix a financial crisis linked to the city's unfunded pensions. The mayor is looking to the Democrat-controlled legislature to approve his plan that would allow residents with homes worth less than $250,000 to avoid a higher tax.
The Chicago mayor is also hoping Illinois' Republican Governor Bruce Rauner will approve a lower pension payment schedule for the city's public safety worker retirement systems in an effort to save $247 million next year.
But neither item seems likely to be approved any time soon.
Rauner has shown no signs that he is willing to back the mayor's priorities. And the top Republican in the Illinois House voiced scepticism about the mayor's wish list.
"The mayor knows full well the environment is a lot different here than it's been in a long time. Everything that's seemingly easy or makes sense can get caught up in this environment," said House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, who represents a swatch of Chicago's western suburbs. "It's not going to be easy."
According to the Cook County Clerk's office, the city has until Dec. 29 to put the first phase of the mayor's tax hike on property tax bills.
Legislation that must take effect immediately requires a three-fifths vote for passage before the end of the year, and the state House's Democratic super majority has proven to be porous.
The second-term mayor has been working with Democrats behind the scenes to draft a plan to shield middle- and lower-income Chicago homeowners from any potential property tax hike. A House hearing dealing with the property tax exemption is scheduled for Thursday.
But any plan likely will run into resistance from Republicans, as well as Democrats, who do not like changes that benefit only Chicago.
"If it's Chicago only, the roll call becomes exceptionally difficult," said State Representative Michael Zalewski, a Democrat from southwest-suburban Chicago, who is vice-chairman of the House panel expected to discuss the property-tax plan.
Chicago faces a $745 million budget shortfall, driven largely by increasing pension costs. In his budget address on Tuesday, the mayor called for a massive property tax hike, a first-ever fee on residential garbage collection, new surcharges on ride-sharing and cab companies and a tax on e-tobacco products.