Taxes Rising On Parking, Concerts And Sporting Events

Chicago sports fans, movie mavens, concertgoers and theater patrons will pay more to attend live events--and so will those who park their cars in garages and surface lots--under a $25 million revenue package tied to Mayor Daley's 2009 budget.

Daley tied his own hands by promising to close a massive budget gap without raising property taxes on the heels of last year's record $83.4 million increase.

But he didn't promise to hold the line on all other taxes and fees.Today, aldermen were told that the city's two-tiered amusement tax would be going up---from four-to-five percent for mid-sized venues and from eight-to-nine percent for large sporting venues.

The parking tax will rise from $2.25-per-car to $3. But the increase will be confined to the top tier of motorists who pay more than $12 to park. Daley's controversial plan to lower the threshold for applying the Denver boot--from three unpaid tickets to two--has also been watered-down to ease aldermanic resistance.