Chicago Board of Elections to appeal ruling that invalidated Bring Chicago Home referendum

On the same day the city’s Board of Elections moved to appeal a judge’s decision invalidating the Bring Chicago Home referendum question, that same judge Tuesday rejected an attempt by Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration to pause enforcing her ruling.

The dismissal by Cook County Circuit Judge Kathleen Burke followed her decision on Friday siding with opponents of the referendum for homelessness services. While the question remains on Chicago ballots for the March 19 primary, votes on the issue will not be counted unless any appeals of Burke’s decision prevail.

Related Articles

• Politics | Business groups sue to halt ballot question on raising real estate taxes to pay for homeless services

• Politics | Judge invalidates ‘Bring Chicago Home’ referendum on March 19 ballot

• Politics | Mayor Brandon Johnson’s tax increase for homeless services will head to voters

The opponents — led by the Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago and joined by the Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance, the Chicagoland Apartment Association and other real estate interests — took issue with the three-part nature of the referendum question. The referendum asked voters whether the city should raise the real estate transfer tax rate, a one-time charge on property sales, on property values over $1 million and lower them slightly on properties valued under $1 million. The suit also alleged it was unclear how the city plans to spend on homeless services the estimated $100 million in additional revenues the tax would raise.

Advocates have pushed the Bring Chicago Home initiative for years but the effort gained traction when it was embraced by Johnson, who made it a cornerstone piece of his successful campaign for mayor last year. The mayor this past fall spearheaded the effort to get the referendum placed on the March ballot as it easily passed the City Council.

Attorneys for Johnson’s administration on Monday asked Burke to halt enforcement of the order during the appeal process. Opponents argued in a court filing Tuesday that the city had no standing because the judge already ruled the city could not intervene in the case. The city requested to intervene a little more than a month after the suit was filed against the Chicago Board of Elections earlier this year.

The city’s only relief “is to appeal the denial of its petition to intervene. That’s it and that’s all,” Michael Kasper and Michael Del Galdo, attorneys for the real estate interests, wrote in the Tuesday filing. The city disagreed, saying in a separate filing it had “a direct, immediate and substantial interest in the subject matter.”

But Burke agreed with Kasper and Del Galdo, writing that the city did not have standing and that by filing an appeal to a higher court, the matter was now out of her hands and in the appellate court’s jurisdiction.

City attorneys filed notices to appeal with the Circuit Court and at the Illinois Appellate Court.

As the city fought to be heard in court on the matter, the Chicago Board of Elections — the named defendant in the lawsuit — announced it would appeal Burke’s Friday ruling also at the state appellate court. In its appeal, the board will reiterate its argument that it is not the appropriate party for the lawsuit; the city is. The board had moved to dismiss the initial suit and argued it was not a policymaker, just the printer of ballots. Burke denied the board’s motion to dismiss.

Max Bever, director of public information for the board, said in a statement Tuesday that the board would request an expedited review from the appellate court on that issue.

Johnson and Bring Chicago Home supporters who have been fighting for a steady funding stream to combat homelessness for several years are still encouraging voters to turn out and vote “yes” in hopes that an appeal will succeed and votes in March will be counted. The Bring Chicago Home organization, which is also not a party to the lawsuit, has equated legal efforts to defeat the question to voter suppression.

“We applaud the city’s decision to appeal the judge’s ruling and remind our supporters that they can and should continue to vote YES on Ballot Question 1 while the appeal is underway,” the group said in a statement Monday. “Our campaign hit record numbers via doors, phones, and grassroots fundraising this weekend, mobilized by this blatant attempt at voter suppression by a handful of wealthy real estate interests.”

Michael Glasser, president of the Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance of Chicago, told the Tribune on Tuesday he thinks the real estate interests will prevail.

The appeal from the city elections board “doesn’t change the fact that this is still a misleading referendum and it’s bad policy,” he said, adding his organization would still encourage Chicagoans to vote no during the pending appeals.