Mayor Brandon Johnson, city council members remain far apart in city of Chicago budget, head tax discussions as deadline looms

CHICAGO (WLS) — The Chicago budget showdown that showed hints of progress earlier Monday has now taken a significant step backwards.

Mayor Brandon Johnson, for the first time, met with 11 leaders of a group of Chicago City Council members who are pushing an alternative budget at City Hall. It is something the group has been asking for over the past couple of weeks as they try to negotiate a budget deal.

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Both sides held press conferences after that meeting, which, it appears, did not do much to solve the problem. While the group of alderpersons have offered some compromises in their plan, there are still several sticking points between the two groups.

Earlier Monday morning, a city council meeting on the floor was over before it began. Thirty alderpersons did not show up, so there was no quorum.

“People have been working all through the weekend, but I think just the decency and respect we call the meeting to show up for the meeting, and I’m disappointed that our colleagues have not decided to show up today to do the business of the people,” said Budget Committee Chairman Ald. Jason Ervin.

The empty seats included those members who are trying to advance their own budget without the mayor’s controversial corporate head tax, which takes aim at 175 of the largest companies in Chicago and remains one of the central sticking points.

The group of alderpersons who are backing the alternative budget asked the mayor, during their meeting, if he would veto their current plan. But, they say, he would not give them an answer.

“Today, we posed a simple question to the mayor: If we pass a budget with no head tax, would he veto it? And he did not give a straight answer,” said Budget Committee Vice Chair Ald. Nicole Lee. “Our coalition came together around the head tax, and that was that’s our red line and our values. So, we also have non-negotiables, if you will, our values as well.”

The mayor complained that the alderpersons, he says, did not present any of their proposals to him.

“My hope and expectation that they would actually present me with ideas that I could work with, and they failed to do that. There was not one proposal or idea that was put on the table for us to discuss,” Johnson said. “I’ve never said that I would veto a budget that did not have a head tax in it. What I said was, it really just depends on what they have proposed… So, their obstinance is not only disappointing. Quite frankly, it’s surprising… They didn’t show us anything.”

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Earlier, the alternative budget group announced that they had restored the summer youth jobs to the number the mayor’s budget called for. They also removed the hike in the garbage collection fee, which had prompted the mayor to promise a veto.

“As part of this collaborative process among Alders, we have come to an agreement to remove the garbage tax as part of our proposal and maintain funding for youth jobs as initially proposed in the FY26 budget,” Ald. Gilbert Villegas said in a statement. “Additionally, we have figured out how to balance this proposal while fully funding the collections budget in the Chicago Public Library and providing additional funding for gender based violence.”

Before meeting with the alderpersons, Johnson acknowledged those compromises as progress.

“At least they did do what I did ask, which was to turn something in so that we can review now we can have some substantive conversations around the pathway moving forward, but making it very clear that, look, let’s not burden working people,” Johnson said.

But after Monday’s meeting, the opposing group of alderpersons is now planning to move forward and present their own plan starting Tuesday.

“We’re going to be happy to continue to talk to people, but we’ve got a balanced budget that we’re presenting. It’s a responsible one. It’s one that’s been vetted. In fact, in places we feel like we went very conservatively,” Lee said.

The mayor and his team called the projections by the alternative budget group either exaggerations or inaccurate.

“I, to this day, have not received any thing from this group that backs up why they lead their forecasts are accurate, nor have I received anything from this group which backs up why they think ours are under forecasted,” said City Budget Director Annette Guzman.

Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez is among those who support the mayor’s budget proposal.

He is glad that the opposing council members are deciding to fund youth jobs, but he believes taxing the corporations is the only way to balance the budget without harming Chicagoans.

READ MORE | Chicago budget discussions reach stalemate, raising possibility of 1st-ever city government shutdown

“Have a balanced budget that is not balanced on the backs of working people,” Sigcho-Lopez said. “We cannot afford higher property taxes, higher fees and fines. I’m glad we defeated the garbage fees. I think that was completely out of touch. Property taxes are skyrocketing, so we want a balanced budget not on the backs of working people and we do think that corporate head tax is a valid alternative that should’ve never been phased down.”

Without a balanced budget by Dec. 30, the corporation council made it clear there is not a stop gap option to avoid a government shutdown.

“So, we then move into a category called essential worker designation, and even in the instance of an essential worker, because we have to pay to. And, there would have to be, those individuals will be working without pay, until such time that we have a balanced budget,” said Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson Lowry.

This showdown is a sign that the city council is not afraid to flex its political muscle. The mayor is not backing down either. So, does this make a shutdown seem more likely than ever?

“I am not going to allow for our government to be shut down. It is it is it is reckless,” Johnson said. “And quite frankly, it only hurts working people. So, I’m going to do everything in my power to try to avoid doing that.”

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