Yesterday the Mayor directly introduced a series of revenue ordinances: a set of new fees such as the garbage fee, new regulations relating to fee and license management, the motor fuels tax levy, and four property tax levies for 2016, 2017, 2018 and a supplemental for 2015. Below is a breakdown of what we found in reviewing those ordinances yesterday.

Property Tax Levies: As previously announced, the Emanuel Administration introduced a supplemental property tax levy increase for 2015 (property levies are collected the year following their announcement) of $326,803,000. For 2016, another property tax levy increase is piled on another $109,519,000. In 2014, the Chicago property tax levy was $859,509,000. That means by 2016, the Chicago property tax levy will be increased by 50.7%.

The administration promise that the property tax increases will be linked to the SB777 required Police & Fire Pension Fund payments is also why the administration introduced property tax levies for 2017 and 2018 of $703,307,000 and $766,737,000 respectively, which the Emanuel Administration previously billed as $52M and $63M increases with each year.

If you’re trying to follow the math, those two levy increases are actually decreases from 2015 and 2016, right? But, the way the Emanuel administration works it out is by assuming the city won’t need additional property taxes for other city operations–that it will tack on about the same $645.5M levy it did in 2016 and 2015.

That means in 2017 and 2018 the city will have to maintain totally level funding, unless other fees are added or service cuts are made to make the grade – and assuming the pension funds won’t require additional levies to ensure actuarially required funding.

Cloud Tax: The so-called “cloud tax,” a clarification of the city’s “Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax” issued earlier this year, has two big changes from previously reports. First, it includes a new, slightly lower tax rate of 5.25% for computing services that, “input, modify, or retrieve data or information that is supplied by the customer” (emphasis ours). Other items will still be taxed at the original 9% proposed amount. Second, the tax is clearly meant to cover everything cloud-related, including consumer products like Microsoft’s Office365, which is explicitly mentioned as an example in a Budget Office briefing sheet.

That 9% "amusement tax" rate also applies to streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Spotify.

A Budget office briefing says the city expects, “lease tax revenue expected to exceed $40 million in 2016,” but conversations with trade associations and lobbyists yesterday lead us to believe that estimate to be much too low. For instance, imagine 50,000 Chicagoans subscribe to Apple Music at $14/month. That’s $8.4M a year. At a 9% rate, that comes out to $756,000. Now add in Pandora, Hulu, Office365, XboxLive, Netflix…  on the consumer side alone. For businesses, imagine Lexus, Bloomberg and CoStar Terminals, some running $10,000/mo each. What about medical billing systems?

$40M will likely be low-end estimate, assuming compliance is not a problem. The city is waiving taxes, penalties, and interest owed from this tax before 2015, to assist with that compliance.

For comparison, city budget officials say Austin, Texas charges 6.6% across the board for cloud software, infrastructure, and databases. Seattle charges 9.6% for cloud software and databases.

Startups, or “small new businesses” that use and lease cloud storage and tech won’t be required to collect or pay the tax. To qualify, their gross sales or receipts for the most recent full calendar year prior to the annual tax year must be under $25 million, and the business must be younger than 60 months.

Garbage Fee: The details of the plan are mostly as has been reported here and elsewhere:

1. Fees will be collected as part of the water and sewer bill.

2. Property owners are responsible for payment, not tenants.

3. Fees apply to buildings with four or fewer dwelling units.

4. The fee is $9.50 per month, per unit.

5. Seniors who receive the Senior Citizen Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption receive a 50% credit on the fee.

6. A late fee of 1.25% per month for fees later than 24 calendar days.

7. Property owners with fees overdue more than 24 calendar days may have their water turned off, but not in the winter.

8. A refuse full payment certificate is required for property transfers. The certificate has a $50 application fee.

Motor Fuel Levy - Cuts To Bridges And Snow Removal: Revenue from this fund is $31M less than last year, resulting in $22M in cuts to city vehicle fleet maintenance, $10M in cuts to bridge and pavement maintenance and a $5M cut to the city’s snow removal budget.

E-cigarettes: As expected, each wholesale liquid nicotine product dealer who sells to a retailers in the City will be required to collect a $1.25 tax for each e-cigarette cartridge and $0.25 for each milliliter of liquid to fill the cartridge. According to testimony during the public hearing portion of yesterday’s Council meeting, $500,000 collected from that tax will go toward capital funding for School Based Health Centers. Those centers are expected to provide care to 3,000 students. All proceeds, interest, and penalties from this tax will be deposited in the City’s corporate fund.

Building Permit Fee Hikes: As also expected, building permit fees are going up, many are doubling. These are the first hikes the city has implemented since 1999, and are expected to raise $13 million next year. Amendments to the building permit rubric show the City is doubling the costs of review per square foot area of work for some new construction, and adding anywhere from a nickel to a quarter to the cost per square foot for alterations, renovations, repairs, and additions. New costs per square foot range from $0.18 to $0.82, depending on the type of building and construction classification.

Flat fees are rising across the board, too. The cost for a permit to install an escalator, for example, is climbing from $200 to $300. The only type of flat fees left untouched are permits for billboards - which range in cost from $50 to $1000.

The Mayor’s office says this is part of a broader effort to update the Department of Buildings. Reforms will reduce the time it takes to issue building permits by an average of one week, a budget briefing document from the Mayor’s office says.

But the hike will also hit big construction projects harder -- those permit fees will increase 60% on average next year. Single family home construction permit fees will go up 12% to 25%, on average.

Fees for the issuance of permits, which defray the cost of reviewing building plans, are changing too. Instead of paying half the permit cost upfront, and the rest when the permit is issued, builders will have to pay a non-refundable $300 fee to the City of Chicago upfront. The rest of the cost will be paid when the permits are issued.

If the total fee to issue the permit is less than $300, the total cost will be due when plans are filed.

The City expects to make more than $44 million on building permits overall in 2016.

Parking Tax, Overweight Truck Permits And Driving Without Liability Insurance: The city’s parking tax code would be amended slightly to specify which small parking garages are exempt from the tax. Garages that house fewer than three cars are exempt, unless the owner operates more than three spaces in the City. The cost of permits for overweight trucks will go up starting June 1, 2016 and every year after by applying the previous year’s fees plus the rate of inflation based on the Consumer Price Index.

The vehicle insurance code has also been tweaked: anyone who doesn’t show proof of liability insurance to a cop when pulled over faces a fine of at least $500 but no more than $1,000 for first and second offenses, and $1,000 every time after. That fine can be reduced to $100 and the offender will be put under disposition of court supervision if they proves they did have insurance in court.

Rideshare And Taxi Rules: A number of new fees and rules would be created. Including:

1. Taxi licensees will pay an additional $20 a month fee, now $98 per month total.

2. Change in taxi fares: $2.75 (down from $3.25) for each new ride, and 25-cents (up from 20-cents) for each 1/9 mile. Plus, 50-cents per ride in fees to the ground transportation tax and wheelchair accessibility fund.

3. Taxicabs are permitted to charge “surge rates” for rides acquired through digital apps.

4. Rideshare services like Uber and Lyft will pay $5.80 for rides starting at O’Hare, Midway, Navy Pier and McCormick Place and 80-cents for every other new ride initiated. Another 20-cents per ride will be charged for the wheelchair accessibility fund.

5. For each ride to or from a designated “underserved area”, 50% of the tax will be credited. Up to 15% of all total rides each month.

6. A number of new taxi license fees and regulations for wheelchair accessibility.

City Management Ordinance: An omnibus ordinance with various changes to city rules and regulations, it includes:

1. City contract applicants will no longer have to disclose unpaid parking tickets

2. Changes to parking ticket adjudication rules

3. The Commissioner of Transportation can now create curb loading zones without Council approval

4. Higher fees for Central Business District driveway permits

5. Booted cars “shall” have all fees paid for, instead of “must”

6. The Traffic Administrator is directed to investigate “self-release” immobilization devices for booting cars

7. New installment payment plans for parking tickets

8. A debt relief program for the following unpaid fees collected before 2012:

   • tax collectors

   • tax assessment

   • property transfer tax

   • administrative hearing violations

   • vehicle violations

9. Increased fines for illegal cigarette sales and tougher rules on violators

10. Easier ways to demonstrate insured status for tattoo parlors, expediters and a host of other city-licensed businesses

11. Changes to law about non-standard sidewalks

12. Changes to snow removal law so businesses have more responsibilities

13. Newsracks can’t be placed within 5 feet of a bicycle rack or share station

14. More flexibility to Comm. of Fleet and Facilities Management to negotiate leases for Riverwalk concessions

15. Removal and addition of various parking meters

16. A management agreement for the new LoopLink bus shelters and outdoor advertiser JCDecaux

17. Total ban on animals for personal slaughter and consumption. No longer just sheep, goats, pigs, cows, poultry, rabbits, dogs and cats. Licensed establishments continue to be exempted, however.

18. Changes to rules for building fire clearance for alcohol distillers