Chicago alders urge Mayor Johnson to slow down on $16.7B budget push

Alderman pushes back on Johnson's budget

A key alderman is warning Mayor Brandon Johnson that he is moving too fast with his 2026 budget.

CHICAGO - Some key Chicago City Council members are urging Mayor Brandon Johnson to slow down on his $16.7 billion budget proposal that raises a host of taxes.

What we know:

By all accounts, the mayor is pulling out all the stops to secure the 26 votes needed for his budget, and he wants to secure them fast.

This comes as Johnson is also floating $1.3 billion in borrowing for infrastructure spending — hundreds of millions would go to alders to use on desired projects in their wards.

Ald. David Moore says the mayor has pledged to use TIF funding for a long-sought-after Park District field house in his ward — an example of the wheeling and dealing to possibly secure those budget votes.

But a key alderperson, Pat Dowell, who Johnson selected to lead the Finance Committee, is saying slow down. The city has until the end of the year to approve a budget, so why fast track it?

Sources say they believe the mayor is angling for a vote next week, perhaps as early as Monday. Dowell is opposed to the employee head tax, which would charge companies with more than 100 employees $21 per employee per month.

Other controversial taxes include a tax on cloud computing, which alders worry could chase away those businesses, and a first-of-its-kind social media tax.

What they're saying:

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward) is questioning the timing, as folks will be hearing about these higher taxes just as their second installment Cook County property tax bills arrive in the mail.

"But that's going to create the kind of atmosphere that will make it difficult for this mayor to pass a budget that doesn't include any cuts and efficiencies," he said. "People will open their tax bill and they'll get angry, and they'll call their elected official and they'll say, 'what's going on here? Why did my bills go up?' They don't want to hear that elected official say, 'well, you know, we're going to tax you even more this year, but don't worry about it.' That's a very hard sell in an anti-tax environment like we're faced with right now."

What's next:

Hearings are underway at City Hall.

Again, the mayor is possibly angling for a vote on this next week, as some alders say, whoa, let's cut, let's look at more efficiencies, and let's think twice about that proposed employee head tax.