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The budget is balanced primarily through $181.8 million in revenue increases stemming from a $60 million sales tax increase, court fee increases and the use of General Fund balance, combined with $35.8 million in expenditure reductions.
The $100 million-plus cut to the health department budget proposed for 2025 by Johnson is largely driven by expiring federal grants tied to COVID-19.
“We will not repeat the mistakes of the past,” Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski said.
Iroquois, Calhoun, Clinton, Green, Jersey, Madison and Perry counties all passed referendums similar to measures that have already passed in about two dozen other Illinois counties.
Senior mayoral adviser Jason Lee said, “If they’ve got ideas on strategic cuts that don’t gut services or force working people into the unemployment lines or if they’ve got progressive revenue or otherwise revenue ideas that can mitigate the property tax, the mayor is willing to listen.” But, Lee warned: “Whatever direction you go, there’s gonna be some group that’s antagonized on the revenue side. We don’t want to just impose that. We want the Council to tell us which fight are they willing to take.”
On the other hand, hotel properties in the Loop are experiencing some of the highest assessment increases, adding complexity to the issue as the county faces increasing pressure to balance the tax load.
Voters in several South and Southwest side neighborhoods voted in favor of opening free mental health programs — and raising property taxes to fund them.
“I’m appalled to share that the attack targeted two Jewish students at DePaul who were visibly showing their support for Israel,” University President Robert Manuel said. The university is working with Chicago police to determine if the attack can be classified as a hate crime.
Chicago’s 29th ward, comprised of parts of Austin and Montclare, voted on whether the Chicago Bears should receive taxpayer subsidies for a new stadium. The no vote won decisively, with 77.7 percent of voters casting “no” votes out of more than 5,000 votes cast.
“At the risk of stating the obvious, a lot has changed in the last 117 years,” Ald. Matt Martin said, also noting that overturning it would put impacted restaurants on a level playing field with others in the neighborhood.
“They did everything they could to get more seats and they didn’t,” House GOP leader Tony McCombie said. “Of course I wish we were able to flip a few seats but I think this election cycle overall is starting to, at least I hope in Illinois, show that … people (are) voting with their pocketbooks and they want some structural reform.”
Jim Dey: “(State Office of Management and Budget Director Alexis) Sturm said ‘areas such as debt service, general obligation bonds, pension payments, Medicaid and areas that are covered by consent decrees’ make up roughly 40 percent of the state’s general fund. Another 24 percent of the budget covers education — K-12 and higher ed. That’s 64 percent, meaning any reductions would have to be squeezed out of the remaining 36 percent of the budget. That includes public safety, government services and payments to local governments.”
“Simply put, it’s belt-tightening time in Illinois. Given their overwhelming majorities, Democrats don’t have to consult Republicans. But now would be an advisable moment to open the channels of bipartisan consultation and cooperation. The GOP has been thinking for far longer about areas to cut the budget than Democrats have.”
David Greising, of the Better Government Association: “Even as Pritzker struggles to mitigate the fallout on Illinois from Trump’s victory, Trump’s election could have the paradoxical effect of presenting a new political opening for Pritzker on the national stage.”
Ted joined NBC 5 to talk about the Chicago School Board election results. Ted argued that the Chicago Teachers Union simply has too much power and that 6 anti-union board members will help expose the problems created by the union.
In addition to walking back on a campaign promise not to raise property taxes, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is also proposing a sizable tax hike on alcohol. Johnson wants to increase the wholesale transaction prices per gallon of beer by 34%, and by about 35% for other spirits.
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