On Monday, Chicago City Council members heard from the author of the report as the mayor and his team defended their plan.
The mayor's budget, which has already generated pushback from city council members, is now entering a new phase of scrutiny. Some alderpersons say a consultant's report deserves a good, hard look that should delay a budget vote set for next week.
Johnson refused to do any budget backpedaling despite a report by the professional services firm EY, formerly Ernst & Young, that suggests the city could find millions more in efficiencies in next year's budget.
"We put forth this investment that some had some trepidation around, which sure I did that, but we've already demonstrated that we're willing to implement the very ideas that came from this report," Johnson said.
But Joe Ferguson, the president of the Civic Federation, says the mayor is missing out on many more opportunities for saving money by not implementing more of the ideas contained in the 101-page report.
"He is not governing to all Chicagoans. He is governing more to the benefit of a subset of constituents, and he's doing so in a very ideologically-driven way," Ferguson said.
"I think there are concrete results, recommendations from the EY report, concrete recommendations that we as the council can say we want these implemented. You need to implement them, stop ignoring them, and help reduce the cost on taxpayers in your budget," said 32nd Ward Ald. Scott Waguespack.
On Monday, a representative from EY appeared before the budget committee to discuss the report and answer questions.
"EY's work was in no way an audit for a forensic analysis of the city's budget for finances," said EY Report Lead Author Adam Chepenick.
The mayor, meanwhile, continued to defend his corporate head tax proposal.
"Well, look, we still believe that the best way to balance our budget is challenging, larger corporations to pay their fair share. As I've said from the very beginning, my values, I protect," Johnson said.
The mayor's budget director dismissed critics and defended the city's proposed savings and efficiencies.
"There is a difference between someone looking at a report or making estimations on their own about what a savings is, and us actually doing the work," said Budget Director Annette Guzman.
Ald. Gil Villegas pushed the idea of implementing a city delivery fee to help balance the budget. The mayor says that would not be possible without first getting approval from Springfield.