Skokie Vision 5

Skokie Vision #5: Did you know that 33,000 people work in Skokie but only 8.7% of them live in Skokie -- and that percentage continues to decline?

A major reason is that housing costs are outstripping wage increases. I am proud to have been an active part of a grassroots campaign in 2019 that ensured that the Village Board did not opt out of the new Cook County minimum wage and sick leave ordinance.

For the nonprofit organization I direct, Housing Opportunities and Maintenance for the Elderly (H.O.M.E.), I led us to adopt a Compensation Philosophy that pegs our minimum wage to the "housing wage" as determined each year by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition. In Illinois in 2024, you need to earn $24.80/hour to afford a one-bedroom apartment on the market.

While Skokie businesses may not be able to ratchet up to that level, the Village can work with both employers and housers on incentives, fee waivers, and programs to meet in the middle to the extent possible: lowering housing costs and raising incomes.