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CHICAGO - The Chicago City Council is set to meet Monday afternoon and is expected to vote on the latest version of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2025 budget proposal.
Monday’s meeting comes after Johnson failed to secure the required 26 votes before last Friday’s meeting, which ended without a vote on the budget. Johnson has faced opposition for his proposed property tax hike to help fill a nearly $1 billion deficit.
It appeared after more negotiations over the weekend, Johnson conceded to opponents and dropped a proposed property tax increase altogether.
The council needs to approve a budget before the end of this year or some city services could shut down and the city’s credit rating would suffer.
The council is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m.
What’s new?
Over the weekend, City Hall sources said Johnson’s latest budget proposal no longer includes a $68 million property tax increase, which many alderpeople opposed.
Critics said the city should focus on making cuts to save money before turning to tax increases.
To address the $68 million gap, sources said the mayor is relying on other measures including:
- $40 million: line of credit or short-term loan
- $10 million: Special event reimbursements
- $5 million: Savings on gas and electricity
- $1 million: Staff cuts across several departments
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Mayor Johnson drops property tax hike, furloughs in new budget proposal: sources
Mayor Brandon Johnson's fourth draft of the city's 2025 budget will no longer include a property tax hike or unpaid furlough days for city employees, according to City Hall sources.
Still, critics like Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) said such proposals aren’t good enough.
"Taking out a short-term loan of $40 million is just a one-time fix to get through this moment," Lopez said. "That’s not gonna help us in the long term."
Lopez was one of about 15 alderpeople who signed a letter to Johnson on Sunday calling for specific cuts like eliminating the "Office of the Vice Mayor" and the Office of the Public Safety Administration, as well as keeping spending on programs for youth employment and homelessness at current levels.
Johnson and his supporters have argued for maintaining city services and jobs.
"Well, if these Vrdolyak tactics keep coming, then again, we will have to send pink notices to people," said Ald. William Hall (6th), referring to notorious former Ald. Ed Vrdolyak. "Nobody wants to lose jobs."
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Chicago alderman previews vote on latest 2025 budget proposal
The Chicago City Council is set to meet Monday afternoon and is expected to vote on the latest version of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2025 budget proposal.
Background
Originally, Johnson proposed a $300 million property tax increase to help fill the budget deficit, something he said he would not do when he campaigned for mayor last year.
That idea was soundly rejected with a 50-0 vote earlier this year.
Johnson then came back with a $150 million proposed increase, which also didn't garner enough support among alderpeople.
Eventually, Johnson whittled down the proposed property tax hike to $68 million. That plan also included tax increases on cloud computing services, parking garages, rideshare services, grocery bags and streaming platforms.
Still, City Council opponents emphasized they wanted to look at cuts before tax increases.
Some said they'd be open to cutting $170 million worth of civilian positions within the Chicago Police Department which are currently vacant. The mayor said he was receptive to the idea.
Several alderpeople said they'd heard from their constituents who strongly opposed a property tax increase.