Pedestrians walk past Boeing International Headquarters in Chicago in 2019. Boeing later left Chicago for the suburbs of Washington, D.C. | Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune
By The Editorial Board | Chicago Tribune
In the later years of Richard M. Daley’s mayoralty and especially during the tenure of Rahm Emanuel, the city of Chicago served as a magnet for corporate headquarters relocations, particularly from the suburbs.
United Airlines moved its headquarters to Willis Tower from Elk Grove Village, shifting thousands of employees to the city. Kraft Heinz consolidated its base in Chicago from Northfield. McDonald’s moved its home office to the West Loop from its longtime base in west suburban Oak Brook in 2018. These are just a few of the examples.
At the time of these moves, the city was perceived as hot. Even companies that didn’t go so far as to relocate their headquarters to Chicago opened satellite offices in the city, believing that they needed a physical presence to attract younger workers.
The era we’re talking about wasn’t that long ago — less than a decade — but it feels like ancient history.
Post-pandemic, downtown Chicago lost its mojo and, unlike New York City, has failed to recover adequately in the midst of relentless fiscal crises and poor municipal leadership. Chicago’s progressive mayor, Brandon Johnson, routinely describes the corporate decision-makers in his city as the “ultra-rich” (when he refers to them at all).
With Johnson declaring on Tuesday that the city’s finances are at a “point of no return” — whatever that means — the mayor and his progressive allies believe they may have found the answer to their seemingly never-ending quest for massive revenue infusions that affect only the wealthy. A heretofore obscure advocacy group, the so-called Institute for the Public Good, has proposed a new city tax on companies and other large employers that would require them to pay 5% of their total payroll for anyone working in the city who makes $200,000 or more (including noncash compensation like stock options).
The group estimates such a levy would generate $1.5 billion a year. Voila! A Chicago budget deficit now topping $1 billion in 2026 would disappear thanks to something this group pitches as a “tax on the privilege of doing business in Chicago.”
Read more here.