Illinois Realtors Spends Big Against Transfer-Tax Proposal

The state’s largest real estate trade group is spending over half a million dollars to block a potential real estate transfer tax hike that could help plug a funding gap for the Chicago Transit Authority.

Illinois Realtors launched a digital ad campaign earlier this month targeting suburban voters in five collar counties and suburban Cook County, Crain’s reported. The group is warning residents that state legislators could resurrect a plan this fall to increase the transfer taxes — one-time fees paid when properties are sold — as a way to rescue the cash-strapped CTA.

“Tell your legislator: No suburban property transfer tax bailout for the CTA,” the campaign’s website says. The Realtors group estimated the tax hike would increase collections in suburban districts by more than $140 million, a 600 percent jump from what was paid last year.

The move comes after a version of the tax proposal surfaced during late-session transit negotiations in Springfield in June, catching many industry players off guard. Though the broader transit funding bill ultimately failed, Illinois Realtors CEO Jeff Baker said the group is preemptively pushing back ahead of the fall legislative session.

Baker told the outlet that every time closing costs are raised, purchasing power drops. The transfer tax atop the already increased tax burden for Illinois homeowners “would be another straw on the camel’s back,” Baker said.

Illinois Realtors argues that its campaign, fully funded by an in-house PAC, is not just about fighting a city tax in the suburbs, but also about protecting homebuyers during a time of high rates and rising prices. The group took direct aim at Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration, calling the CTA “failing” and framing the proposal as an effort to subsidize mismanagement.

At least one suburban legislator isn’t impressed.

“Our transportation networks keep the suburban economy humming, and our housing values will crater if train and bus services are cut or disappear altogether,” said state Sen. Laura Ellman of Naperville.

Illinois Realtors spent $1 million last year opposing a similar city-level transfer tax increase aimed at funding homelessness services, another measure that passed despite the industry’s objections.

— Judah Duke