The City Council Finance Committee today voted to back a state compute that would allow Chicago voters to approve higher property taxes in their neighborhoods to boost spending for local mental health services. In November 2008, Northwest Side residents by a wide margin approved such a referendum for the North River Mental Health Clinic, but the question was just advisory and led to no action.
The Coalition to Save Our Mental Health Centers now wants to allow compulsory referendums that would allow higher taxes without aldermen having to vote on them.“My neighborhood understood the upsetting effect mental illness can have on people’s lives, quite possibly because most of us have a family member or friend who suffers from mental illness,” said Carole Spreitzer, a volunteer with the coalition. The idea is to fill a gap in funding created as the state has called back financial support for mental health services, including $91 million cut in the current budget, aldermen said. If the full council approves the measure Wednesday, it lets state legislators know that city leaders back the effort.
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