Council unanimously votes down Mayor Johnson's property tax proposal to address budget gap
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Chicago City Council unanimously voted down Mayor Brandon Johnson's proposed $300 million property tax hike in a special meeting Thursday.
Aldermen voted 50-0 on the hike without any debate. It was meant to help close a budget gap of nearly $1 billion.
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"A devastating loss for Mayor Johnson. I've been here, you know, going on 17 years. I've never seen this kind of vote take place. And I think in many of our lifetimes, we've never seen this. So it sends a message that that massive property tax increase he was looking for, it's not going to happen," 32nd Ward Ald. Scott Waguespack said. "But it also sends some message that, you know, if he's looking to get attention by sticking seniors and families with a massive tax like, it's not, not the way to govern."
City Council did not address what they would do to close the gap without the property tax hike.
"Now the question for us as a Council is: How are we going to balance that budget? So we said no to a property tax increase at the level $300 million. Well, what are we for? And that's the conversation that we need to be having in this moment," 35th Ward Ald. Carlos Ramirez Rosa said. "We collectively are coming together and saying no to increase property taxes at that level, but I think it also sends a message to Springfield: Our property tax system is broken, and the only way that we're going to fix this is through legislation in Springfield."
The special meeting was organized after 29 aldermen signed a letter opposing Johnson's proposed $300 million property tax hike.
The mayor said it was needed to help avoid layoffs, furloughs and cuts to other programs.
Many aldermen said they were against the property tax hike.
"What this does is it resets the process in short order. A good day for the taxpayers in the City of Chicago," 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn said.
The mayor had hoped to come to some sort of agreement Thursday with City Council members.
Aldermanic sources said behind-the-scenes negotiations could result in the tax hike being reduced - to as low as $100 million.
The mayor has not confirmed any figures, but, during a briefing on Tuesday, said he's open to lowering it.
As the process of trying to close the budget gap starts fresh, it will be truncated. City Council has to balance the budget by year's end, but there are questions on where that money will come from.
"I think that we should look at perhaps reducing the amount of the pension advance," 35th ward Ald. Carlos Ramirez Rosa said. "I think we should look at reassigning our ARPA dollars... federal dollars available to us to close that gap in the short term."
"I believe everybody should take at least one furlough day per pay period," 9th Ward Ald. Anthony Beale said. "That will get us a boatload of money, because we have to show the people that we have skin in the game."
Mayor Johnson said he wants to avoid layoffs and furloughs, or cuts in youth employment that "invest in people."
"We're not committed to cutting services," Johnson said in a Thursday evening press conference. "Which day do you think Chicagoans want police officers not to be on the job? Or streets and sanitation? Which day do we pick to make sure firefighters and EMTs are no longer available on that day. Which day?"
Tweaking alternative taxes on items like alcohol and cigarettes has also been raised. So has increasing garbage collection fees. Mayor Johnson is adamant about not cutting city services.
Now, jockeying for program funding and any digestible cutbacks begins anew.
"I'm sure with 50 aldermen and a mayor and a city council, if we can't find a way to get that budget hole filled then we don't need to be here," 37th Ward Ald. Emma Mitts said.
With homeowners from all parts of the city worried about their recent reassessments increasing their property taxes, an expected hike coming from the Chicago Public Schools and now more being requested by Johnson, council members were feeling the pressure to do something.
"We can't have a situation where we're going back to the taxpayers asking for more money before we've done the homework on our side, hopefully in collaboration with the mayor's office to make sure that we are making this an efficient government before we're asking for more," 34th Ward Ald. Bill Conway said.
Sixth Ward Alderman William Hall said they've been working non-stop the past 72 hours behind closed doors to try to amend the mayor's proposal.
He said Thursday was a chance for council members to check in.
"This is merely a check-in meeting," Alderman Hall said. "We're not voting on the budget that was presented a few weeks ago. It's not ready because we haven't even heard from every department. So Chicago can calm down. We are still working, and I'm confident we'll get there. By the end of the year? Absolutely, I don't see us having a government shutdown. I don't see us breaking the backs of Chicagoans, and I don't see us not working together."
Alderman Hall admitted this mayor is doing things differently, where some say these negotiations should have taken place long before the mayor proposed his budget.
But Hall's confident they'll come to an agreement soon.
He said if it takes until Dec. 31, they'll work until the very last day.
"I think that everybody is, as they say, posturing today. We've got, you know, time to figure this out," Budget Committee chairman Ald. Jason Ervin said.
Ervin believes there will have to be some form of property tax hike.
Others aren't so sure.
"I'm proud that my colleagues stood up and pushed back on a property tax that everybody knew was an injustice to the people of the city of Chicago," 9th Ward Ald. Anthony Beale said.
But, the mayor still refuses to lay out what his Plan B is going to be regarding any smaller property tax hike.
"I've always said from the very beginning we can negotiate the details of these dynamics, and that's essentially what this process is. It gives the people of Chicago an opportunity to experience what democracy should have looked like for decades, right?" Johnson said Thursday. "This is a healthy process. This is something that my administration can handle. I'm not intimidated by voices from individuals who are city leaders in their own respect."
Earlier this week Johnson suggested his call for raising property taxes was a bluff, to get people's attention. He rejected the notion the vote Thursday, in essence, put him in a weakened position.
"Listen, weakness is when we don't hold to our values. That's weak. Weak is when you don't tell people the truth, that's weak. This is a show of strength. We are always better when we're working together, right?" Johnson said. "There's no secret to the different ideas that are available. You only can tax so many things in Chicago. There's not like a new tax in this particular moment."
Also on Thursday, 32 aldermen will file an amendment to include gunshot detection technology in the 2025 budget.
The proposal is $15.8 million for gunshot detection technology.
ShotSpotter is set to be fully disabled Nov. 22.
