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After several delays, a chaotic meeting Friday and several controversial proposals, Chicago's City Council is expected to vote on the latest budget at a meeting Monday.
The vote comes as Mayor Brandon Johnson reportedly dropped his proposed property tax hike, which originally called for $300 million increase in taxes for Chicago property owners.
The first draft of the budget was shot down by aldermen 40-0. And the latest budget draft -- which includes a $40 million, short-term loan -- is not a guarantee, with some members urging the Mayor to correct spending to pre-pandemic levels, while adjusting for inflation along with cuts to middle management.
"When you’re talking about borrowing $40 million, in my opinion, that’s not responsible," 36th Ward Ald. Gilbert Villegas said, "All we’re doing is delaying the inevitable of rightsizing government. This administration is trying to keep the same headcount, and it’s just unsustainable because we’re not getting any more funding from the federal government.”
In a letter, a group of 15 City Council members demanded an additional $823.7 million in spending reductions, headlined by the elimination of the Office of Vice Mayor budget -- which totals $432,000 -- and the $175 million 2025 CTU non-teacher pension payment.
"We highlighted broad financial increases across multiple departments ripe for reductions; however, you have routinely mischaracterized our efforts as attempts to eliminate police officers and fire fighters, then garbage men and tree
trimmers, and lately homeless support and youth employment programs. Our focus has been on the midlevel administrative bloat within the bureaucracy, the supervisor and administrative jobs that create supervisory/employee ratios nearly 1:3," the letter read in part.
The letter also calls for the following:
- Reconnection with SoundThinking for gunshot detection technology until a
successor provider is awarded. - Authorization to enter into an agreement for the acquisition & investment into a
new 008 Police District - Authorization to enter into an agreement for the acquisition & investment into a
new 012 Satellite Police District - Finalized public safety contracts with Firefighters Local 2 and Police Sergeants as well as the New Retention Bonus, COVID Discipline Board, and VRI Overtime
settlements.
While the group of City Council members is pushing for a wide expansion of cuts, the latest proposal does include some reductions, which Johnson was long-resistant to.
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The cuts include trimming 10 positions in the mayor's office and other reductions to middle management while aiming to improve efficiency in the city's energy and security spending.
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, an ally of Johnson, called the proposal "a fair compromise."
"This is the time to pass a responsible budget and get together to talk about solutions for what would be a trump administration that is looking at the city as a target," Sigcho-Lopez said.
City Council is slated to vote on the latest proposal Monday.
