CHICAGO URBAN DAILY
CHICAGO (CHICAGO URBAN DAILY)— City Hall is headed for a heavyweight fight over money, and the lines have already been drawn.
A 29-member bloc of aldermen calling itself the City Council Budget Accountability Coalition sent Mayor Brandon Johnson a letter this week setting three non-negotiable lines for the upcoming budget: no property tax increase, no corporate head tax or any levy that punishes job growth, and no counting on state money that Springfield hasn’t approved.
“A great city should court employers, not punish them for the act of putting people to work,” the aldermen wrote. “We will not support a head tax, or any levy that makes it costlier to keep and create jobs for Chicagoans.”
The stakes are massive. Chicago faces a projected $882.4 million budget gap for fiscal year 2027. The mayor is expected to present his budget proposal in mid-October, with a final adoption deadline of December 30 — and a February mayoral election raising the pressure on every vote.
On Tuesday, the Council also voted 32-15 to raise the vote threshold for approving new borrowing from 26 to 30 members — a move supporters say will curb reliance on one-time debt fixes.
Stay tuned to Chicago Urban Daily for continuing coverage of the budget battle.
Reported by Chicago Urban Daily News. Visit chicagourbandailynews.com for updates.
