Chicago alders present alternative budget plan to Mayor Brandon Johnson
The deadline is coming quickly to hash out Chicago's city budget, and now, more than half of the members of the City Council are laying the pressure on thick to finalize a deal.Specifically, they just sent an alternative budget proposal to the mayor's office.
On Tuesday, 26 of the 50 Chicago alders signed a 13-page letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson that outlined the alternative budget plan. The alders said the multiple budget hearings over the last month were not enough to answer their questions or address their concerns.The letter emphasized that in January of this year, the city's general obligation bonds were downgraded — resulting in roughly $2 million in extra annual debt service for every $1 billion in debt issuance. At the same time, the letter said, the Loop is 'sputtering with record-breaking office and retail vacancy, shedding jobs and contracting our tax base,' and property taxes have skyrocketed as a result.'Budgeting without regard for these realities is a dereliction of our public duty,' the letter said. 'We must choose to lead this government responsibly, and we must make that choice now.'Last month, the City Council Finance Committee rejected Mayor Johnson's $16.6 billion tax plan. The mayor's version of the budget did not increase property taxes, but did raise rates for such things as cloud computing and software licenses, and for boat docking in Chicago harbors.The key sticking point for many critics of Johnson's budget plan was his push for a $21 per month per employee tax on large businesses, also known as a head tax.A head tax was on the books in Chicago 1973 through 2014, It taxed companies with more than 50 Chicago-based employees $4 per employee per month.That tax raised $35 million in its final year under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who phased out the head tax starting in 2012, calling it a job killer.When details first emerged about reinstating the head tax, an independent expert lambasted the idea. He said charging corporations $21 per employee would not bode well for business, and also said aldermen would not let the head tax fly.Indeed they did not. The alders voted 25-10 against the mayor's tax package last month.The alternative budget outlined in the letter this week also calls a head tax a no-go, and a 'disincentive to economic growth.'The alders also said a $10 million hemp tax needs to be removed because it is irrelevant now that the federal government has banned many hemp products.The plan from alders also calls for youth guidance funding to be restored.Like the mayor, the alders do not want any property tax increase or grocery tax.The alders who signed off on the letter also want to make sure the city is paying down its debts.The plan calls for making good on obligations to labor by making full pension payments, while refusing to 'perpetuate harmful financial practices like borrowing to pay for operating expenses.'The alders included the word 'negotiable' when describing their ideas to the mayor.CBS News Chicago has reached out to the mayor to see what his office thinks about the alternative budget.The City Council has until the end of the year to pass a 2026 budget.
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