Mayor Brandon Johnson’s latest plan to try to get aldermen to pass his 2025 budget contains no property tax increases, thanks to a combination of cuts and a controversial idea to extend the $40 million repayment deadline of debt, according to aldermen briefed on the proposal on Sunday.
Three sources present at meetings with Johnson’s budget team said his $68.5 million property tax hike for next year had been canceled entirely, the latest development in a remarkably tense budget process that started with his first term mayor breaking his campaign promise against the raise. this collection.
To close that gap, Johnson’s new proposal calls for finding $40 million through a move to “amortize the credit line in 2026,” according to a copy of Sunday’s briefing. This suggestion of a so-called scoop-and-toss maneuver will likely draw resistance from aldermen worried about what ending the city’s debt would mean for the city’s financial situation.
Johnson is expected to try again to pass a budget package at a City Council meeting Monday afternoon.
The $40 million debt retirement solution was listed under “Spending Reductions” in the mayor’s presentation. So did $1 million in staff reductions in the mayor’s office, $2.8 million in “executive position cuts” and $1.1 million in cost transfers from business affairs and management. consumer protection towards a “cable television creation fund”.
A group of opponents of the mayor’s proposals throughout the process called for further spending cuts to signal that the city shared the pain of tax and fee hikes. It’s unclear whether the latest proposal will be enough for detractors.
The rest of the $68.5 million hole would be filled by “operational efficiencies,” according to the presentation: $10 million in a “cost recovery initiative,” $5 million in “management efficiencies Energy and Facilities” and $8.6 million in a “contract savings initiative.” .”
The first was described by Johnson’s team as a proposal to recover costs for city services through more aggressive enforcement of special event reimbursements and reduced overtime with “better coordination.”
The “cost recovery initiative” would help the city get reimbursed for the services it provides at special and sporting events and pursue organizers who hold unsanctioned events. Another goal is to reduce overtime costs “through better coordination within the permitting process,” according to briefing documents.
NASCAR, for example, has begun reimbursing the city for work done by Chicago police and firefighters, as well as the Department of Transportation and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications for this year’s race. He also plans to make another payment for next year’s race. Lollapalooza already pays the city for these costs.
The briefing suggests the city should adopt a new ordinance to cover sporting events that affect traffic, large outdoor special events and unsanctioned events, which could be charged after the fact.
To appease aldermen who might be concerned about the impact on small neighborhood events and parades, the ordinance would not charge for either. Citywide festivals or “stadium and conference events” would also not be affected, according to the briefing documents.
Last week, Johnson made a last-minute decision to cancel Friday’s vote on his 2025 budget plan, the mayor’s latest setback after months of wrangling with aldermen and failing to gain enough support within of the city council to finalize a budgetary budget of 17.3 billion dollars. a package that still included a property tax hike and minimal cuts.
Chaos comes as Johnson, who has billed himself as the city’s “chief aide” in its bid to reach a budget deal, faces unprecedented government gridlock if he doesn’t get enough votes by the end of the year.
City Hall sources told the Tribune last week that mayoral aides and aldermen close to Johnson entertained the idea of canceling the property tax increase altogether and instead reducing the payment anticipated pension next year – a sign of his team’s desperation to wrap up this grueling budget. ride a bike. His Sunday proposal instead opted for the idea of $40 million in debt retirement and reductions.
Aldermen briefed on the proposal said the debt originally stemmed from former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s purchase of the former Michael Reese Hospital site in 2009 in hopes of winning a bid for the 2016 Olympics. As part of the original debt plan undertaken by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, taxpayers had to pay the $91 million purchase price, plus approximately $43 million net interest and development costs.
Emanuel refinanced the debt in 2017, according to the Sun-Times. At that point, taxpayers still owed $116.5 million for the purchase. The city’s most recent annual financial report shows there was still $39.7 million in outstanding debt on the original promissory note.
Johnson first unveiled his initial 2025 budget plan in late October, calling for a staggering $300 million property tax increase – a major reversal from his campaign promise not to resort to the often politically toxic tactic increase in income. That amount was repeatedly reduced by resistant aldermen until the mayor’s team found itself canceling the increase entirely in its latest attempt to rally a majority of aldermen before the Dec. 31 deadline.
Now, Johnson hopes to have found a winning iteration for finalizing next year’s budget in this Sunday package, but only after having already inflicted political damage on himself by spending the last few months trying to argue that he had no choice but to break his campaign promise.
“Let’s make sure people don’t lose their homes because they can’t afford them, because property taxes remain the only way this city can balance its budget,” Johnson said during a debate for City Hall in 2023. “Under my administration, we will not balance the budget on the backs of Black people and working people.
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