Full City Council set to review Mayor Brandon Johnson's budget with $68.5M property tax increase

CHICAGO (WLS) -- City Council members are expected to vote this week on the next year's financial plan.

The new budget now heads to full City Council Wednesday with all the changes made the past several weeks. But a vote isn't expected until Friday.

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The mayor's proposed budget narrowly passed through a pair of City Council committees.

It now includes for Chicago homeowners a $68.5 million property tax increase, down from $300 million initially proposed by the mayor.

Much of that difference is made up by new fee increases, including on weekend parking rates, the cost of plastic bags, on streaming services and the addition of a congestion tax on weekend ride shares.

Opponents did not mincing words.

The people deserve much better. I really do hope my colleagues think twice before they vote for this garbage," 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly said.

"When you have to go to property taxes, there's always going to be some contention around those issues," 28th Ward Alderman Jason Ervin said. "However, the options become fairly limited, and based on our ability to raise revenue, we only can control so much."

Critics say the mayor, who ruled out city layoffs, failed to identify needed cuts.

The $17.3 billion budget is over $5 billion more than the budget from five years ago.

It needs approval from 26 of the 50 council members and the mayor's team is working to shore up support this week.

It's expected to be close on Friday. So close, the mayor could have to cast a tie-breaking vote.