Mayor Brandon Johnson said he will “do everything in [his] power” to avoid a government shutdown in the city of Chicago, despite the fact that he and members of City Council still have not reached a 2026 budget deal.
“I am not going to allow for our government to be shut down. It is reckless, and, quite frankly, it only hurts working people,” Johnson told reporters late Monday afternoon.
The 2026 budget plan needs to be approved by the mayor and at least 26 of the 50 alders by Dec. 30. If that does not happen, it could lead to a government shutdown.
“Imagine, any of you, who would be asked to come to work every day, who are responsible for potable water in this city, who are responsible for collecting garbage or snow removal and you weren’t being paid. Police officers and their safety, firemen on buildings. We have to find our way on this issue,” said Chicago corporation counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry.
With a continued standoff and the holidays right around the corner, tensions were high at City Hall on Monday. There was no quorum for the council meeting because not enough alders showed up, so council adjourned without conducting any business.
“People have been working all through the weekend, but I think just some decency and respect, you call the meeting, you show up for the meeting,” said Ald. Jason Ervin.
A group of alders met Monday with the mayor and presented an alternative plan to the mayor’s budget. Alders’ alternative plan eliminates the head tax, and doesn’t include property taxes, a garbage tax increase or grocery tax. It also maintains the youth job levels proposed by Johnson, according to Ald. Nicole Lee.
The group of 27 alders, enough to block the mayor, presenting the alternative plan united around their strong belief that Chicago’s 2026 budget should not include a corporate head tax, which is a tax on the largest companies in the city. Under Johnson’s plan, employers with 500 or more employees would pay a $33 per employee per month tax.
“Today, we posed a simple question to the mayor: ‘If we pass a budget with no head tax, would he veto it?’ We did not get a straight answer,” Lee told reporters.
So, would Johnson veto a budget without a head tax? NBC 5 Political Reporter Mary Ann Ahern asked Johnson directly.
“It really depends on what’s in it. I’ve never said that I would veto a budget that did not have a head tax in it. What I said was, it really just depends on what they have proposed. But here’s the problem, though: They literally withheld that information from me and my team,” Johnson said.
The mayor said their plan was not detailed enough. For example, the alternative budget previously did include a garbage tax increase, but alders took it out Monday morning, and Johnson believes they don’t have enough revenue ideas to replace the garbage tax.
“They didn’t show us anything. We just wanted to see their proposals. They didn’t show us anything,” Johnson said.
Lee said the detailed alternative plan will be presented Tuesday in front of the City Council’s finance committee. The alders declined to share more specifics of the alternative package Monday because, in the words of Ald. Pat Dowell, they don’t want the mayor’s administration to “pooh pooh [their] numbers, say that our estimates are off, say that the revenue ideas that [they] have are unworkable.”
“We believe, because we have worked with our colleagues and with experts, that we have a package that will stand the scrutiny that’s going to be happening tomorrow with our colleagues and with this administration,” Dowell said.
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