The dust on the recent CTA pension plan bailout hasn’t even settled yet, but City Hall already has a new plan to alienate Chicagoans (or future Chicago residents). According to the Tribune :

Under one proposal now in draft form, City Hall would require the transfer tax to be paid even when the buyer forfeits the down payment, which sometimes happens when a buyer backs out of a deal. Under a second proposal, the requirement to pony up would be triggered immediately when there is an installment agreement–a contract in which the buyer pays the seller over a period of months but does not receive title to the property until the last payment is made.

Alderman Bernard Stone (50th) who incidentally voted no to the 40% transfer tax increase, had this to say about the City’s revenue director:

Remember what I said about Bea Reyna-Hickey. When there is a corpse lying in a casket she’ll shake it to see if any change falls out of its pocket.

To which Ms. Reyna-Hickey responded that her department merely seeks to collect what the city rightfully has coming. Clearly, Ms. Reyna-Hickey either does not have a clue how depressed the real estate market is, citywide, or she simply doesn’t care, because she is under tremendous pressure from her boss to find additional revenue. This plan has even costlier implications on the commercial real estate side, as attorney David Stejkowski points out in his blog. It’s funny how they come up with plans like this one in mayoral non-election years.

Update: City Council unanimously votes to let sellers eat transfer tax increase

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