Chicago voters overwhelmingly supported vacancy tax to help fund Chicago Public Schools

Many Chicagoans consider the thousands of vacant lots scattered across the city to be an eyesore. And on Tuesday, a number of them said the lots should be a source of revenue for Chicago Public Schools.Nearly 74% of Chicago voters were in favor of a referendum that would hit the owners of vacant or undeveloped property in the city with an annual tax that would support CPS. About 26%, or 163,655, of the city's 624,339 voters were against the idea.The ballot question wasn't binding, meaning the tax won’t go into effect unless it’s introduced and then approved by the City Council. CPS board members believe the results show there’s a will to make the vacant property tax a reality.“We have a very divided City Council, but all of these people are up for election,” said Debby Pope, who retained her school board seat following Tuesday's closely watched District 2b race. “I imagine if [the referendum] got such a good mandate percentagewise … people who are running for election will have to take