CHICAGO (WLS) — Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget team is pushing a drastically reduced property tax hike in hopes it might get enough votes to get a budget passed before the end of the year.
The latest number is approximately $60 million.
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Negotiations have also now eliminated another proposed tax hike that drew a lot of push back.
As the chill of December sets in, many Council members are still not warming up to the idea of a property tax hike of any kind.
“Residents are already squeezed enough, and they cannot afford another property tax,” 23rd Ward Ald. Silvana Tabares said.
The mayor’s $300 million property tax hike was voted down 50-to-0, but the latest working plan has cut that down to just $60 million. That’s about the amount it would go up if the mayor took the automatic increase tied to inflation.
“Well, the fact that we started at 300, and we went to 150. Now, we’re maybe talking about 60 is extremely troubling to me. Because, number one, it appears that, you know, we should have started at 60,” 9th Ward Ald. Anthony Beale said.
The mayor would not talk specifics, saying he won’t negotiate in the media.
But, he made it clear he was dead-set against cuts.
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“The people of Chicago say a lot of things to me, but they never say, ‘Mayor Johnson, could you just cut these services? Mayor Johnson can you just lay off more people?” Johnson said.
One alder is proposing the Council be updated on budget data quarterly to avoid the end-of-year scramble now underway.
“Because, if we’re just shooting from the hip at the end of the year, we might find out next year the projections are wildly off, and see a bigger problem,” 40th Ward Ald. Andre Vasquez said.
One proposed revenue source that is off the table now is the increase in the liquor tax, which drew strong opposition from the restaurant industry.
The mayor’s Budget Committee chair predicts some form of property tax increase will eventually pass.
“I think that ultimately we have to fund government at a level that people expect for the services to be continued,” Ald. Jason Ervin said.
For now, the negotiations continue behind the scenes.
“We’re in the midst of negotiations with alders. We’re in the midst of hearing their ideas; we’re in the midst of running numbers based on what they’re asking us,” Budget Director Annette Guzman said.
Johnson said he’s committed to presenting a balanced budget by the end of the year, as required by law, but he stopped short of predicting one would be passed by the City Council to avoid a government shutdown.
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