A move to boost city vehicle sticker fees for large SUVs has been approved by the city’s Finance Committee and will be considered by the City Council on Wednesday.
The cost of city vehicle stickers would rise from the current $75 to $90 for cars weighing more than 4,500 pounds–the biggest SUVs–and sticker costs also would rise for some commercial vehicles to reflect the “wear and tear on the roads” that they produce, said Budget Director William Abolt.
The Finance Committee also approved several other measures that would raise taxes and fees in an effort to balance the city’s $4.8 billion budget. The package included increased parking fines and restaurant taxes.
Fines for violations such as blocking public facility exits to parking under fire escapes would increase between $25 and $75.
The committee also passed a .25 percent restaurant tax designed to generate up to $8 million per year. The tax would be in addition to the 8.75 percent sales tax patrons pay in most city restaurants.
Several aldermen expressed concern that residents were carrying a heavy load. Ald. Helen Shiller (46th) suggested the Revenue Department explore implementing payment plans or having another amnesty program for parking ticket scofflaws.
“A lot of people need their cars to be able to work and survive in Chicago and we’re making it incredibly more expensive to have a car here,” she said.
Ald. Bernard Stone (50th) also argued that the city was in danger of “chasing” small businesses out of Chicago.
“The fault starts right here,” he said. “You can’t keep raising the taxes and pointing the finger Downstate.”
The full City Council will consider the proposals Wednesday.
The committee also advanced an ordinance allowing police and other city investigators to check vehicles for city stickers in nearly 500 parking lots and garages in Chicago.
The measure empowers police, parking enforcement aides and clerk’s office investigators to enter and ticket vehicles without stickers in 496 city licensed lots.
Protected from the ordinance are vehicle owners who park in some 80 lots citywide where fewer than half the spaces are open to the public.
The vote cleared a major hurdle for City Clerk James Laski in his effort to crack down on vehicle sticker scofflaws. Laski has argued the city is losing millions in revenue and that the crackdown is necessary to collect from motorists blatantly skirting the law.
“I don’t think it’s mean at all, I think there’s millions of dollars that are out there owed to the city of Chicago,” he said. “This is money that’s owed to us so this is to help alleviate raising additional costs and fees.”
