CHICAGO (CBS) — The Chicago City Council on Thursday unanimously rejected Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed $300 million property tax increase, forcing the mayor and his budget team to go back to the drawing board to balance the city’s 2025 budget.
Councilors scheduled a special meeting Thursday to vote on Johnson’s tax hike plan, and voted unanimously to reject it without debate.
Since Johnson announced his budget plan earlier this month, it was clear almost immediately that most councilors would oppose his property tax hike plan, and in recent days the mayor signaled he was backing down.
Johnson, who campaigned on a promise not to raise property taxes, has said he is willing to negotiate with the City Council on his proposed budget, but would not commit on Tuesday when asked if he would support specific alternatives to his proposal to raise property taxes to close the nearly $1 billion 2025 budget gap.
Earlier this week, Johnson suggested that his proposed property tax increase was always negotiable, and that he never intended to dictate the terms of the city’s 2025 budget.
“So as a public school teacher, sometimes we do things to get people’s attention, and now that we have everyone’s attention, I’ve said from the beginning, this is a proposal,” Johnson said Tuesday. “For the first time in Chicago’s history, you’re seeing this kind of collaborative approach, and we will continue to work with the City Council.”
Members of the city council do They were fierce in their opposition to raising property taxes. Johnson appeared to back off his plan for a $300 million property tax increase despite immediate criticism from the city council after presenting his budget speech last month, including from some of his closest allies. Many councilors have made suggestions for alternatives to increase revenues, and Johnson has said he is willing to listen to any council member on how to balance the budget.
Some councilors have recommended contributing less to the city’s advance pension fund as an alternative solution to generating revenue. The mayor is keeping his promise to fund the pension program.
Other ideas include increasing trash collection fees or increasing liquor taxes to increase revenue.
Johnson would not say whether he supports any of these ideas, only that he would not be willing to accept layoffs or furloughs for city employees. It is unclear what cuts or other revenue sources the mayor and city council could agree on to balance the budget.
The city council has until the end of the year to approve a 2025 budget.
