Chicago alders present their own budget plan as Johnson defends corporate head tax

Chicago alders present alternative to mayor's budget plan | The Chicago Report

Some members of the Chicago City Council presented their own budget proposal to counter Mayor Brandon Johnson's plan as the city tries to close a $1.1 billion deficit.

CHICAGO - Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday defended his proposal to raise taxes on large corporations while rejecting an alternative plan from some aldermen aimed at closing a $1 billion projected budget deficit.

What we know:

The City Council’s Finance Committee already rejected Johnson’s package of tax increases last month, but the clock is ticking as aldermen need to approve a 2026 budget by the end of this month.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Johnson also took aim at advertisements targeting his tax proposals, which he said were "trying to mislead and confuse the people of Chicago."

"No resident will be impacted by this tax," Johnson said, referring to the head tax. "In fact, 97% of businesses essentially won’t be impacted by this tax as well and every single business with less than 100 employees will not be impacted."

The mayor also took aim at the alternative proposal from aldermen who have criticized his corporate head tax. 

The other side:

That proposal from some aldermen would raise about $55 million by doubling the city’s garbage fee, raise $48 million from a rideshare congestion fee, and $26 million from an augmented reality tax.

Johnson argued such measures, like increasing the garbage fee, were regressive ways to raise revenue on lower and middle-income Chicagoans.

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward) defended the proposal Tuesday on The Chicago Report with Fox 32’s Paris Schutz. He explained the city hasn’t raised its garbage fee in many years, and described the proposals as options "on the table."

"What we’ve done is crafted a budget that we can say we’re gonna hit the reset button, get aldermen back to the table, show some leadership here and wrest away this budget from the mayor that is basically a head tax that’s a job killer and borrowing and other types of funding that cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in the long run," he said.

Waguespack also said Johnson failed to include many of the cost-saving measures suggested in a report by an accounting firm.

"He’s clearly not doing the job that the taxpayers are asking for, that the City Council is asking for," Waguespack said.

The alderman also warned that borrowing more money like Johnson has proposed to pay for expenses like settlements over alleged police misconduct could lead to a credit downgrade for the city.

Still, Johnson said the tax and fee increases proposed by the aldermanic group still fall nearly $700 million short of closing the deficit. When asked if he would veto such a budget, Johnson appeared to dare the aldermen to override it, which would require the support of a supermajority of 34 votes.

"They’re going to have to find 34 alders who can compel working people that they’re gonna balance the budget off of their backs," Johnson said.