Who is a taxpayer?

When the question is framed that broadly, the answer is “pretty much everyone.”

But consider this statement from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, included in Monday’s Daily Herald story regarding megaproject legislation:

“For the past two years, the city has continued to advocate for a publicly owned stadium and has not supported the advancement of a privately owned stadium. The city’s proposal remains the only plan centered on public ownership alongside a funding mechanism that does not burden property taxpayers while keeping the Bears in Chicago.”

Johnson singled out people who pay property taxes. Obviously, that includes anyone who owns land. It’s possible he intended to also incorporate those who might indirectly pay real estate taxes through rent and lease agreements, a fairly common arrangement in such a large and zoning-diverse city.

But parsing the phrasing raises more questions. The “public” in “publicly owned stadium” also refers to taxpayers. Or is it meant to refer only to voters? Paying sales tax in a community doesn’t give you a voting stake. But neither does paying real estate tax – how much Chicago property is likely owned by people registered to vote elsewhere?

And of course, registering to vote is neither required nor a guarantee of actually voting, which might be partly why political types are so comfortable with the phrase “publicly owned” referring to a specific government entity and not the constituents whom that entity technically represents.

It’s also worth dissecting the term “funding mechanism,” because what Johnson means is he wants the city to take over the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, a state agency. There are plenty of reasons to beef with the ISFA’s role in mucking up stadium decisions for several decades, but the “who is a taxpayer” framing is highly relevant when the pitch is having one city subsume an agency that state money has propagated and suggesting no burden on certain taxpayers.

At the risk of oversimplifying accounting, people who paid state income or sales taxes have a financial stake in the ISFA. The majority of Illinoisans who live outside Chicago might not be swayed by Johnson’s pledge to take it easy on the residents of his city who contribute to one revenue stream.

Johnson’s ideas are dead on arrival, but his language choices have echoes in snippets from Arlington Heights, Springfield and even Hammond, Indiana, insofar as the goal is to obfuscate who pays for what when the reality is any time “the government” offers its money to a project, that’s our money, as it comes at the cost of funding other priorities.

Ultimately, the answer to “who is a taxpayer?” remains “pretty much everyone,” but carefully chosen words speak volumes.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.