Alternative to Mayor Johnson's budget plan approved by City Council Budget Committee
Alders compare current standoff to past 'council wars'
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The City Council's budget standoff with Mayor Brandon Johnson moved another step closer to a vote as their plan faced scrutiny in an important committee Wednesday.
Members of the Budget Committee approved an alternative budget that does not include Mayor Johnson's proposal for a corporate head tax. That tax has been a main sticking point in negotiations.
The alternative plan will now go to the full council. The council needs to pass a budget before the end of the year to prevent a shutdown.
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The political battle is reminding some of the "council wars" during Harold Washington's administration.
Chicago's budget battle headed to the city's Budget Committee Wednesday, with officially two weeks left for council members to hammer it out to avert heading into a citywide shutdown.
The group of city leaders hoping to push through their own alternative budget is looking to continue to garner support for their revenue plan, which now more than half of council supports.
On Tuesday, the Finance Committee passed that budget plan, which does not include the mayor's corporate head tax, but lays out a plan to raise a plastic bag shopping tax from 10 to 15 cents.
It also includes a pilot program to place advertising on bridge houses and light poles.
SEE ALSO: Chicago finance committee approves alternate budget proposal without mayor's controversial head tax
But, there were also questions about the alternate plan to sell outstanding debt to raise nearly $90 million. The city comptroller is advising against it.
The group leading this effort says it's in line with 98 percent of Mayor Brandon Johnson's proposed budget.
RELATED | Chicago City Council revises alternative budget proposal, mayor defends head tax as deadline looms
Council members on both sides of the budget debate expressing their opinions on where things stand.
"Our proposal, in terms of new revenues, impacts businesses at 84% and individuals at 16%. I want everybody to take a look at this for a minute," said Budget Committee Vice Chair Ald. Nicole Lee.
"What you have here is balancing the budget with fines and fees and taking out the corporate head tax. I want to hear your rationale to do that," said 25th Ward Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez.
READ MORE | Chicago budget discussions reach stalemate, raising possibility of 1st-ever city government shutdown
Johnson issued a statement on Tuesday evening, saying, "As the leaders of the Alternative Group made clear throughout their presentation, the Secret Budget that passed out of the Finance Committee this afternoon is substantially similar to the proposal we introduced more than two months ago.
At our insistence, the Alternative Group agreed to restore the cuts they made to youth employment, and they removed the proposal to double the garbage tax. They have finally conceded to some degree, the point that I have made from the beginning: that corporations must pay their fair share in order to protect Chicagoans at this moment.
Unfortunately, at the behest of certain corporate interests, they chose to replace a tax on the largest corporations with $90M+ in "enhanced debt collections" on everyday Chicagoans. This seems to be in direct contradiction with their expressed desires to shift the financial burden away from working people.
Not only is this proposal immoral, it is simply not feasible. There is no way to sell off Chicagoans' debts that would yield that amount of revenue. If passed as is, this proposal would likely result in a significant midyear budget shortfall and leave Chicagoans vulnerable to deep cuts to city services.
We will spend the next few days with our budget, finance, legal, and policy teams reviewing these proposals. Chicago cannot afford a government shutdown when we are making so much progress growing our economy and reducing violent crime to historic lows.
Tomorrow, the Budget Committee will review their proposal publicly so that Chicagoans can understand exactly what is in this Secret Budget."
