Chicago voters casting ballots Tuesday were handed a slate of advisory referendum questions that could reshape how the city and state raise and spend money, including a statewide measure asking whether Illinois should adopt a 3% income tax surcharge on millionaires, NBC Chicago reported. The questions appeared on the midterm election ballot. The ballot included five advisory referendum questions in total.
The so-called “Millionaire Amendment” question appeared on ballots for all voters and asked whether the state should add the surcharge on millionaire incomes, with half of the revenue dedicated to property tax relief and the other half to improving state funding for public education.
2026 Illinois Election Day results: Chicago millionaire tax question https://t.co/Lw2jLNmZ55
Four questions aimed squarely at City Hall
Chicago voters faced three additional advisory questions specific to the city, plus the shared statewide question and a fifth city question on vacant land:
- Question 1: whether Chicago should reintroduce gunshot detection technology
- Question 2: whether the city should develop a permanent festival and event space to use in place of Grant Park and Douglass Park
- Question 3: whether the city should try to recover financial losses incurred during Operation Midway Blitz, the immigration enforcement operation undertaken by the Trump administration
- Question 4 was the Millionaire Amendment question on taxing millionaires to fund schools.
- Question 5: whether owners of long-term vacant or undeveloped property should pay an additional fee to support Chicago Public Schools
How the ballot labeled the questions
The first question was labeled restarting gunshot detection technology, the second a permanent festival and event space, the third seeking compensation for ICE operations, the fourth the millionaire tax to fund schools, and the fifth penalizing vacant properties.
Results expected after 7 p.m. poll closing
None of the measures is binding; all are advisory, meaning they gauge public sentiment rather than change law on their own.
Results were set to populate live beginning about a half hour after polls closed in Illinois at 7 p.m.
How Chicago voted on 5 referendum questions: 84% Yes · Seek compensation for ICE operations 80% Yes · Millionaire tax to fund schools 74% Yes · Penalize vacant properties 72% Yes · Restart gunshot detection tech 67% Yes · Permanent festival and event space All non-binding, but…
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