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The Chicago City Council’s “Budget Accountability Coalition,” a
group of 29 aldermen, sent a letter to Johnson Monday setting
ground rules for working with the mayor’s office in adjusting
and passing the 2027 fiscal year budget..
The coalition’s letter listed “no property tax increases,” “No
head tax, and no tax on job growth,” and “No reliance on
Springfield revenues that have not been approved,” as their key
lines in the sand for the coming budget.
The budget, as noted by the coalition, has a projected $882.4
million deficit. The deficit is lower than previous projections,
but is still something both the administration and council will
seek to address.
Johnson responded to the letter publicly, saying he welcomes
engagement in the talks that are done “in good faith,” and he
would like to see not only what they don’t want, but also
“concrete solutions.”
Johnson attempted to pass a corporate head tax in the previous
year’s budget, which was blocked by the council. He didn’t count
the proposal taxing corporations more out at a news conference
Tuesday.
“I'm going to present my budget in a couple of weeks and we're
going to have ongoing conversations with members of city council
around again, what's the surest pathway forward to provide the
structural investments that are good for working people,”
Johnson said.
In both his letter and at the news conference, Johnson said he
inherited the deficit and difficult financial obligations, but
said he wants to address the situation.
“Are we moving in the right direction? Yes. Do we have more work
to do? Absolutely. Did we inherit an incredible mess? Oh, my
gosh. Absolutely, we did.But yet somehow we're managing to pull
ourselves out of this weight,” Johnson said.
He made a point Tuesday that both the group and his office agree
that the city shouldn’t have a budget that counts on revenue
that isn’t guaranteed.
“I at least believe that there's agreement that city council is
not going to propose fake revenue sources. Because we know how
irresponsible and reckless that is. And so I think it's
incumbent upon all of us to make sure that whatever proposals
that we're putting forward, that it's not harming working
people,” Johnson said.
While Johnson heavily focused on passing progressive revenue
proposals during his discussion of the budget, he said he
wouldn’t raise property taxes on city residents.
The mayor is expected to release his proposed budget
mid-October, with negotiations to follow.
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