The Truth About Mayor Johnson’s So-Called “Renters Tax”

By Emma Young, writer, community activist, free spirit

It's Election Season and to some that signals time to lie. So the latest lie is that Mayor Brandon Johnson is trying to pass a renter's tax. And when I called it a lie, a hater said "it was on TV." That makes it a lie being told on TV (probably Fox News) and being passed on by a bunch of haters and groups such as Illinois Policy and some FB Real Estate Groups. So I asked AI which is reliable because it consists of opinions and knowledge from millions of sources. Please read and share this information. If the haters are going to beat out Mayor Johnson, let them do it on their merits, not on their lies.

No, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is not trying to pass a renter's tax.

Instead, he introduced the Protecting Renters Ordinance (PRO), which is a major update to the city's 40-year-old Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance (RLTO).

What the Ordinance Actually Proposes:

• Rental Registry & Fees: It proposes a citywide rental registry requiring landlords to register non-owner-occupied units. This includes a proposed annual registration fee (around $20 per unit) paid by property owners, which real estate groups and critics have labeled a "tax" or fee that will ultimately get passed on to renters through higher housing costs.
• Fee Bans: It seeks to ban certain move-in/move-out "junk fees" and cap security deposits.
• Just Cause Evictions: It requires landlords to provide valid reasons for evictions or lease non-renewals, alongside mandatory relocation assistance (up to $5,000 or more depending on the circumstances) in certain displacement cases.
• Tenant Protections: It creates a formal Tenant Bill of Rights, codifies legal representation for tenants facing eviction, and establishes a new Bureau of Rental Housing Services.]

While political opponents and real estate associations characterize the associated registry fees and landlord penalties as a "renters tax" or a hidden cost that harms affordability, the actual legislation is a regulatory overhaul of tenant rights rather than a tax on renters. A competing proposal called the Fair and Accountable Illinois Rental (FAIR) Ordinance has also been introduced by city council members looking to scale back these regulations.

Note: After further research we determined that the proposed registration fee is tiered, ranging from $20 to $60 per unit annually, depending on the landlord’s number of units, according to the City of Chicago’s Protecting Renters Ordinance overview