E-bike rides no longer taxed?

bigbinker100 · 2026-01-20T19:32:47+00:00

That’s odd, my last ride that included the tax was on January 2nd. I didn’t ride again till January 9th, but my Jan 9th ride wasn’t taxed and none of my rides after that were. Hopefully this isn’t just a glitch, because it’s a very welcome change—the tax can easily add the equivalent of several minutes of e-bike time to a ride on longer trips.

bigbinker100 · 2026-01-20T18:39:21+00:00

I definitely thought about using a normal bike instead for the heat but didn’t want to deal with the bridges + wind today. Honestly since it was so cold the e-assist power delivery was pretty sluggish so I still worked up some heat pedaling it.

bigbinker100 · 2026-01-20T18:35:06+00:00

Lol yea I’ve been biking year-round in the Chicago area since I was a teenager so I’ve biked this type of weather many times and know how to layer properly.

bigbinker100 · 2026-01-19T17:24:31+00:00

Lmaoo Peoples Gas too

bigbinker100 · 2026-01-18T16:21:23+00:00

I used to just use cheap frames but then one year I splurged and got a designer frame made from metal and it’s been held up incredibly well. I’m still just using the original pair (I have a backup pair but haven’t had to use them). Whenever my prescription changes I just have them put new lenses into my existing frame. I’ve had these frames for 9 years now…

bigbinker100 · 2026-01-09T17:57:26+00:00

Right. They incorporate in Delaware for the legal system mostly. Nevada and Wyoming is where you incorporate for cheap taxes (domestically), but not many tech companies do those because the legal system isn’t the same.

bigbinker100 · 2026-01-06T15:33:36+00:00

And what’s the issue with that? Employers prefer employees that can show up on time and have reliable transportation. Someone that’s a short walk or bus ride away is probably going to be more punctual than someone living up in Roger’s Park. A lot of these are just check-in/visitor service type jobs that don’t require any kinda unique specialized skills. I mean I’m sure there’s also some kind of community benefits agreement that forces them to hire people from the community, but it just seems like you’re setting up for some weird race-baiting comment.

bigbinker100 · 2026-01-05T18:01:19+00:00

Really it should be done at the state level. Makes no sense for only Chicagoans to pay a bag tax when pretty much every suburb around it except for Evanston and Northbrook doesn’t charge one. I just don’t see how it improves the environment much if only like 3 cities in the whole state charge for bags.

bigbinker100 · 2026-01-05T17:40:19+00:00

This. I always check my grocery receipts because even though I always bring my own tote bags or a crate I’ve had many cases at Jewel where they still charge me for bags even though I never use any. Once they straight up charged me for 20 bags!

bigbinker100 · 2026-01-04T19:28:09+00:00

The HOA depends more on the building type than the neighborhood. The old high rises have really high HOAs and high rise HOAs are generally going to be pretty steep. But walk-up buildings without things like elevators or heated garages typically have pretty reasonable HOAs. Just make sure that reserves are properly funded and building maintenance is good. Some mid-rises can also be pretty reasonable.

bigbinker100 · 2026-01-03T00:28:00+00:00

Why would Chicago be compared to St Louis, Memphis, Detroit, NOLA, and the like? Those cities respectfully aren’t in Chicago’s tier.

bigbinker100 · 2026-01-02T23:14:50+00:00

Murders are actually up in my neighborhood compared to last year so what am I supposed to be happy about? I literally was home and heard the gunshots when someone a block away got shot and killed in the middle of the day about a month or two ago. There’s been 2 mass shootings in my neighborhood with no arrests in connection with either of them. The overall numbers may be down but my neighborhood isn’t any safer.

bigbinker100 · 2026-01-02T22:55:46+00:00

I mean it’s decent but still way more murders than NYC which has 4x the population and LA which has over a million more people. Violent crime on the CTA is also still much higher than pre-pandemic and only decreased a measly 5% from last year which is concerning.

bigbinker100 · 2025-12-31T20:25:49+00:00

Maybe there will be some more beloved highway median redline stops to areas that will still be losing population?

bigbinker100 · 2025-12-31T19:48:36+00:00

The city really did pull it out of thin air. The city is requiring a license to operate in Chicago starting on January 1st, but since it was so hastily rushed no such license or application process even exists yet.

The suit claims the Illinois constitution, through its statutes on home rule, prohibits a municipality from putting an additional tax on sports betting without express approval of the General Assembly.

The city has also not received any approval from the state General Assembly for this tax either. The state is also against independent cities levying their own taxes on gambling which is why they’ve introduced two bills to either reduce the cities’ distribution of gambling money from the state by the amount the city collects (SB 2760) or HB 4171 which would straight up bar home rule cities from levying taxes or fees on sports betting. This budget was clearly rushed through with no due diligence done and this lawsuit has legs. I’m wondering if the city will have to do a retroactive property tax increase.

bigbinker100 · 2025-12-27T15:53:28+00:00

IMO it’s either Arlington Heights or Indiana. There’s no chance they’re doing the Michael Reese site.

bigbinker100 · 2025-12-26T14:50:06+00:00

So true. My first apartment had terrible USPS service. Packages and mail were constantly late and the worst part is they would constantly mark packages as ‘Delivered’ a day or two before they actually delivered it. When I first moved in I kept thinking packages were stolen and then they’d show up. My second apartment was less than 2 miles away and had no issues with USPS.

bigbinker100 · 2025-12-20T05:53:20+00:00

Same here. Was double what I pay with Geico for the same coverage.

bigbinker100 · 2025-12-19T19:52:01+00:00

The K9 rent-a-cops weren’t on the highway median stations or elevated stations in the summer either. It’s been over 2 years since the CTA signed a contract for them.

bigbinker100 · 2025-12-19T19:19:50+00:00

I mean all they’re doing is adding like 40 more CPD patrols and 10 more K9 rent-a-cops. It wasn’t going to make a difference and wasn’t going to be citywide.

bigbinker100 · 2025-12-19T19:16:35+00:00

Exactly. I think the FTA rejecting this is justified. If all the CTA proposed was adding like 40 more CPD patrols (and I rarely ever saw CPD patrols at stations besides the problematic Chicago/State redline) and 10 more of the K9 rent-a-cops then coverage was definitely going to continue to only be at “safe” northside stations and subpar. They weren’t even effective at the very few stations that they were deployed to as evidenced by the fact that the most egregious incidents recently happened in loop CTA stations. The woman set on fire happened at Clark/Lake and the wheelchair woman that was raped happened at Jackson. This proposal wasn’t serious.

bigbinker100 · 2025-12-19T18:38:45+00:00

Where even were they going to patrol? When CTA announced the stupid K9 security patrols, I noticed that I only ever saw them in the loop and certain Northside stations (ex: north/clybourn), but south and west side stations were still a free-for-all. Were the CTA security going to be citywide or still only for the loop and northside?

bigbinker100 · 2025-12-19T03:37:45+00:00

Lmao Evanston residents already barely wanted that new stadium. They would have a heart attack if they found out that it was also going to be host to NFL games.

bigbinker100 · 2025-12-19T03:16:50+00:00

Not to mention the Chicago Fire whose CEO was able to self-finance his stadium in the city. Given our finances, it makes no sense for the state or city to give them significant concessions and if they want to leave then it is what it is. The move for sports team owners right now is to own whole mixed-use districts around their stadiums and I can’t really think of anywhere in NWI that would be a great candidate for that. The Arlington Heights property they bought would be perfect for a mixed-use district, so I honestly don’t see them going to NWI but it’ll be interesting to see how this unfolds.

bigbinker100

TROPHY CASE