Buckner, too, has found fault with Johnson’s plans, arguing they would stymie growth

 Buckner, too, has found fault with Johnson’s plans, arguing they would stymie growth

. Buckner has said he would expand the city’s current downtown congestion tax, potentially by charging all drivers, not just those in Ubers or Lyfts, and placing a fee on large businesses whose stormwater runoff stresses the city’s sewer system.

Business owner Willie Wilson is perhaps the most vocally anti-tax candidate in the race, having blamed high levies for everything from the loss of population and businesses to homelessness. He called for Lightfoot to cut property taxes, arguing that lowering them would keep more residents in Chicago and provide an infusion to the city.

“I wouldn’t support taxes on nobody. … I’m sick and tired of taxes. And I can afford to pay them,” the wealthy philanthropist said.

Vallas has promised tax relief and derided the mayor’s initial plan to increase property taxes in the 2023 budget, which she later scrapped. But he now says he doesn’t believe in levy caps and will instead work with the state legislature to cap property tax increases on individual properties. Should that not work, he would implement a city tax rebate program.

“We need to explore the feasibility of having a cap on individual property,” Vallas said, arguing that is the only way to protect against rapid gentrification. ”So if you’re not improving your property, you’re not expanding your property holdings, you simply don’t get some dramatic arbitrary increase in your property taxes that bear no relationship to your ability to pay.”

That proposal would likely require substantive changes to state and county law, experts say, and could result in other property taxpayers shouldering a higher burden.