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Johnson was asked if he would be willing to make concessions to
get people on board.
“It’s clear here. We’re either going to cut services and lay
people off and raise property taxes, or we’re going to make sure
that those with means who can actually afford it put more skin
in the game. That’s the choice that the people of Chicago have
right now,” Johnson said.
The mayor’s head tax would impose a $21-per-worker monthly tax
on businesses with 100 employees or more, although there have
been discussions about some workers being exempted. A business
with exactly 100 employees would have to pay $2,100 a month, or
$25,200 annually. A business with 1,000 employees would pay
$21,000 a month, or $252,000 a year, driving critics to say the
head tax would be a jobs killer in the city.
The mayor was asked why he is pushing for a vote next week
instead of waiting.
“There has not been one alternative that has been presented. I’m
for more deliberation if we’re actually debating over something,
but to slow it down just for the sake of slowing it down doesn’t
make sense,” Johnson said.
Several council members have urged the mayor to find more
efficiencies instead of raising taxes. After the city paid Ernst
& Young $3 million in taxpayer funds for a budget analysis,
Alderman Anthony Beale said he thought the Chicago budget
office’s 70 recommendations with $80 million in savings were not
“worth the price of tea in China.”
Chicago residents weighed in during the public comment period
before Friday’s meeting and again when the council interrupted
the meeting for a public hearing on the budget.
Casey Sweeney of the Chicago Teachers Union urged aldermen to
support the mayor’s $16.6 billion spending plan.
“The Protecting Chicago Budget puts forward unprecedented
investments in our schools, our parks, our libraries: a billion
dollars into those services,” Sweeney said.
In addition to the corporate head tax, the budget includes new
taxes on social media, Big Tech and sports betting.
Flora Digby of Southern Shore Yacht Club said the mayor’s
proposed yacht tax on boat mooring would drive people to
Wisconsin and Indiana.
“You will unfortunately see boat owners going to Kenosha, going
to Hammond. Instead of raising the revenue that we need to
bridge that gap, we will be losing some of the stable revenue
that we have today,” Digby said.
The city council’s budget committee is scheduled to meet Monday.
The full council could vote on the existing budget or a revised
plan Tuesday.
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