Chicago property taxes may be going up 2.5% to help fund schools

The Illinois Senate approved a new evidence-based funding strategy for Chicago Public Schools on Tuesday, the latest development in the school funding saga.

The new funding formula prioritizes districts that are furthest from being fully-funded, and Governor Bruce Rauner has already vowed to approve it, reported to NBC Chicago.

REALTED: Thanks to the state’s failing budget, Chicago Public Schools were forced to borrow $112 million with almost-unreasonable interest rates

The bill, Senate Bill 1947, or the Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act, will allow city officials to raise homeowner property taxes approximately by 2.5 percent, which could cost the average Chicago homeowner $83 annually by a Chicago Sun-Times estimate.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is calling the approval of SB 1947 “another win for children and communities throughout the Land of Lincoln.”

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“For far too long, Illinois has ranked dead last in the country for funding its highest poverty school districts,” Mayor Emanuel said in a statement. “Now we are posed to reform that inequitable and insufficient funding formula.”