Chicago telephone tax to rise by 56 percent to shore up Public Pensions

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Desperate to avoid a pre-election property tax increase, Chicago aldermen advanced an alternative Tuesday that could end up costing their constituents even more money: a 56 percent increase in the monthly surcharge tacked on to telephone bills.

Effective Sept. 1, the City Council's Finance Committee agreed to raise the surcharge from $2.50 to $3.90--$1.40-a-month or $16.80-a-year--for every land line and cell phone in Chicago. The tax applied to pre-paid phones will rise from 7-to-9 percent, effective Oct. 1.

A family of four with four cell phones and a land-line would end up paying $84 in additional taxes each year.

Compassion in Blue America.