As earlier reported here and in PlanetLaundry magazine, the city of Chicago recently passed a new tax on all users of water and sewer in the city. The first increase of 7.5 percent will go into effect on March 1, and the tax will increase over the next four years to 30 percent.
The Illinois Coin Laundry Association, along with a number of other laundry operators, has been working on getting some type of reduction in this tax for self-service laundries. To this end, several CLA members have formed a working group, which has engaged a lobbying firm to help mitigate the impact of this legislation on Chicago-based laundries.
“I can tell you that we’ve made some significant progress and are cautiously optimistic that this effort will pay off,” said ILCLA President Paul Hansen.
As of this week, the Illinois trade group has reached out to the following city, state and federal agencies:
• Mayor’s office of Legislative Counsel and Government Affairs
• City Chief Financial Officer Carole Brown
• Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
• Illinois Department of Natural Resources
• ComEd
• Peoples Energy
• EPA
In the coming weeks, meetings will be held with the following individuals and agencies:
• Aldermanic Black Caucus Chair Roderick Sawyer
• Finance Committee Chair Ed Burke
• Budget Committee Chair Carrie Austin
• Chicago Department of Water Management
• Members of the Aldermanic Progressive Caucus
• Members of the Aldermanic Latino Caucus
“We are attacking this problem on a number of fronts, not only trying to get laundries exempt or the tax reduced for us, but also are working with other government agencies on getting grants, subsidies or tax breaks for upgrading to more water-efficient equipment – but we need your help,” Hansen explained. “Again, we are optimistic we can get some kind of relief, but we’re nearly out of funds. As of today, only a handful of owners have donated, and we only have enough to keep going for another month – when we need about three more months to see this through.”
How badly would a 30 percent increase in water costs impact your laundry business? What’s more, this increase is on top of a 30 percent property tax hike, a large jump in the minimum wage, a burdensome sick-time ordinance and a soda tax.
For those interested in contributing to this critical laundry industry cause, checks can be made out to: ILCLA, c/o Joe Frankian, D&M Equipment, 4822 W. Fullerton Ave, Chicago, Ill. 60639 – or funds can be sent through PayPal.
For more information, call Paul Hansen at (773) 436-1994.
