Chicago's Head Tax Was Long Called a Job Killer, but Is There Evidence to Back that Up?

Chicago’s head tax was long called a job killer, but is there evidence to back that up? – WBEZ (Chicago)

This analysis suggests who would potentially be affected by Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposal: less than 1 percent of all licensed businesses in Chicago; roughly 20 percent of jobs at companies across the city; and companies where an average salary is estimated to be roughly $111,000.

Chicago's head tax was long called a job killer, but is there evidence to back that up?

For as long as it’s been alive, Chicago’s employer head tax has been derided — in one colorful way or another — as a job killer.“It's much more than a head tax… it's a scalping tax,” said the late Ald. John Hoellen (47th) in an hour-long debate four days before Christmas in 1973 when the council approved the policy.A decade later, even progressive former Mayor Harold Washington said he wanted to reduce and then nix the disfavored tax — requiring…

Chicago “Head Tax” Is So Bad, Even JB Pritzker Opposes It

It’s hard to find a tax hike that the Illinois Democratic Establishment balks at, but Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson seems to have done it with his plan to start taxing businesses per person employed in the city, at a rate that has already increased once to $33, up from $21 in his first version of the plan. We give Pritzker full credit for actually getting this one right: “I am absolutely four-square opposed to a head tax for the city of Chicago,…