“It's not caused by some tax levy the city was trying to impose on them. It's caused by inflated property sale prices, including property values and taxes driven by the greed of wealthy property owners and corporate investors who make big money improving our neighborhood.”
In 2022, homeowners in Pilsen saw an increase in their property tax bills By 40 percent. Morales added that the city's budget shortfalls are related to the continuing professional development program because there are more than 1,000 vacancies. Rodriguez Sanchez echoed those sentiments.
“We have a lot of vacancies that we won't fill,” Rodriguez-Sanchez said, referring to the unfilled continuing professional development positions. “What we're seeing now is that those situations that are out there are not providing safety for anyone. What if we used that money, those resources, on things that are available that can provide safety for people.”
She also pointed out during her statements: GKMC Peacekeeping Forces Programmewhich hired more than 100 young people last summer for its pilot program on the South Side, identified it as a program in which it needs to continue investing. As I mentioned City basic income program And programs to help survivors of domestic violence.
“We want to be progressive. We want to get the resources where they are, and we want to make sure people have what they need so we can have a safe Chicago,” Rodriguez-Sanchez said.
She added that cuts and failure to expand funding for social safety net programs are not consistent with progressivism. The proposed budget of the General People's Congress Party for the year 2025 Nearly $2.1 billion. It is also the city's largest department and makes up more than 30% of the city's Corporate Fund, which funds city services and programs. To date, there are approximately 11,683 sworn officers in CPD.
In addition to maintaining funding for programs such as the GKMC's peacekeeping forces, the proposal also calls for maintaining civilian roles within the Constitutional Police Office within the CPD and increasing funding for Chicago Department of Public Health to reduce the city's life expectancy gap.