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CHICAGO - 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.
The new draft comes after the mayor's previous budget proposal failed to secure enough votes from the Chicago City Council to pass on Friday.
RELATED: Mayor’s $68M tax hike budget rejected, city council hits pause until Monday
The previous proposal included a $68 million property tax hike, along with other taxes and fees.
To address the $68 million gap, City Hall sources say the mayor is relying on the following measures in the fourth draft:
- $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
"Taking out a short-term loan of $40 million is just a one-time fix to get through this moment. That's not gonna help us in the long term," said 15th Ward Alderman Raymond Lopez.
Johnson’s budget team spent the weekend lobbying aldermen after Friday’s 20-minute council meeting stalled the vote.
Although the latest proposal avoids an immediate property tax increase, Lopez warned that fines and fees for various services will rise.
"We're gonna see almost 100 new speed cameras, you're gonna see an increase in city stickers, residential parking, booting… your Netflix bill going up," said Ald. Lopez.
Johnson’s first budget proposal, which included a $300 million property tax hike, was unanimously rejected.
To avoid a government shutdown, the mayor needs 26 aldermen to pass his $17.3 billion budget.
"Nobody wants a property tax increase, but I do think Chicagoans would be okay with spending more in certain respects if they saw the city actually had its act together on how it was spending that money," said former Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson.
Meanwhile, a coalition of about 90 organizations plans to call on the city Monday to redirect funds from vacant police positions toward public health and safety initiatives.
The city council will reconvene at 1 p.m. Monday to vote on the mayor's fourth budget proposal.