Mayor Brandon Johnson abandoning $68.5 million property tax hike in latest bid for budget deal
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Seeking to get a budget deal done on Monday, Mayor Brandon Johnson has dropped plans to seek a $68.5 million property tax hike, sources have told CBS News Chicago, though it remains unclear if his latest proposal will win him enough votes from the City Council.
The move comes as the mayor and aldermen have been spending the weekend working to negotiate a possible deal to end the budget impasse in time for a vote on Monday afternoon. The mayor's team was holding briefings with alders on Sunday to discuss his latest plan.
Sources said one new element of the effort to pass a budget deal on Monday includes the city cracking down on major sports teams and other venues in Chicago to reimburse the city for police overtime costs for special events. That would bring in an estimated $10 million for the city.
The city spent $22.6 million on police overtime for special events this year but has only been reimbursed $2 million, leaving taxpayers to cover the remaining costs.
City law requires special event producers to pay for police services beyond 12 shifts. However, an investigation by Block Club Chicago and CBS Chicago revealed through records requests that the city has not been retroactively charging for those costs.
In 2024, the police department spent $22.6 million on special event overtime across various music, street, and neighborhood festivals. About $7.2 million of that is attributed to ticketed events like Lollapalooza, the Chicago Marathon, and NASCAR. However, the city has only been reimbursed for Lollapalooza and the Chase Corporate Challenge, totaling just under $2 million, police officials disclosed last month.
In addition to seeking the money the city is owed for police overtime for special events, sources said the city also take out a $40 million loan from a decades-old line of credit, a move critics say doesn't achieve the goal of "rightsizing government."
Other new details in the mayor's latest budget proposal include:
- $1 million in savings by reducing the number of positions in the mayor's office.
- $2.8 million in savings by cutting "middle management" positions.
- $8.6 million in savings through reduced spending on city contracts.
- $5 million in unspecified "energy and facility management efficiencies"
This is the mayor's fourth budget proposal. Alders have shot down his last three plans. Some have said the mayor's latest plan still doesn't cut spending enough.
Johnson and the City Council have until Dec. 31 to approve a balanced budget plan for 2025, or face an unprecedented city government shutdown.
"It's a real possibility if we don't figure something out by December 31st, and there will be clearly people to blame for that. I won't be one of them, though," said Ald. Jason Ervin (28th), a mayoral ally who chairs the City Council Budget Committee said on Saturday. "You have a group of people in the City Council that's hell-bent on driving us over an edge."
On Friday, Johnson called off his effort to pass a budget plan that would have included the $68.5 million property tax hike before debate could begin, after failing to get enough support for the plan, which also included other tax increases and minimal cuts.
The mayor recessed the City Council meeting until Monday at 1 p.m., when he could try to call for a vote on a new plan. However, some alders have suggested that's not enough time to review any changes the mayor might make to his budget proposal this weekend.
"We want to go through everything with a fine-tooth comb, but reconvening on Monday's not going to give us enough time," Ald. Nicole Lee (11th) said after Friday's vote was called off.
Facing a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall for next year, the mayor originally proposed a $300 million property tax hike, which was swiftly and unanimously rejected by the City Council. He has since whittled down his proposed property tax hike to $68.5 million, but it appears even that may be too high for most alders.
"We're still not there. We are still not there. There is more fat that can be trimmed, and in some cases these are going to be painful cuts," said Ald. Matt O'Shea, one of many alders who have been urging the mayor to cut spending rather than relying on tax hikes.
As it stands, the mayor's current budget plan includes:
- A $128.1 million from increase on the city's tax on cloud computing services.
- A $12.9 million tax increase on streaming and cable TV services.
- A $11.3 million increase in the tax on parking garages and valet parking services.
- An $8.1 million increase in the congestion surcharge on ride-hailing trips that start or end downtown.
- A $5.2 million increase on the tax on checkout bags from 7 cents to 10 cents per bag.
- $11.4 million in additional revenue from new speed cameras.
- $3.1 million in cuts from the Department of Fleet and Facilities Management.
- $13.1 million in cuts from the city's general finance fund by reducing the amount going to pay down existing debt.
- $74 million in cuts from federal COVID-19 relief funds the mayor had planned to use to finance a guaranteed basic income program and small business assistance programs.
Some of Johnson's opponents have proposed deeper spending cuts, including reduced funding to some of the mayor's key programs, like his youth jobs initiative.
Another alternative that appears to have the backing of both progressive alders and some of the council's more conservative members is eliminating some of the nearly 1,000 vacant positions at the Chicago Police Department.
The more conservative alders insist any vacant positions eliminated at CPD should be either civilian positions, not uniformed officers, or positions that the city cannot fill in 2025 regardless.
