Chicago mayor threatens layoffs, property tax hikes if council rejects head tax

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is threatening service cuts, layoffs and property tax hikes if aldermen reject his proposed head tax on businesses.

The city council held a public hearing on the budget Friday but did not vote on the mayor’s spending plan.

Johnson was asked if he would be willing to make concessions to get people on board.

“It’s clear here. We’re either going to cut services and lay people off and raise property taxes, or we’re going to make sure that those with means who can actually afford it put more skin in the game. That’s the choice that the people of Chicago have right now,” Johnson said.

The mayor’s head tax would impose a $21-per-worker monthly tax on businesses with 100 employees or more, although there have been discussions about some workers being exempted. A business with exactly 100 employees would have to pay $2,100 a month, or $25,200 annually. A business with 1,000 employees would pay $21,000 a month, or $252,000 a year, driving critics to say the head tax would be a jobs killer in the city.

The mayor was asked why he is pushing for a vote next week instead of waiting.

“There has not been one alternative that has been presented. I’m for more deliberation if we’re actually debating over something, but to slow it down just for the sake of slowing it down doesn’t make sense,” Johnson said.

Several council members have urged the mayor to find more efficiencies instead of raising taxes. After the city paid Ernst & Young $3 million in taxpayer funds for a budget analysis, Alderman Anthony Beale said he thought the Chicago budget office’s 70 recommendations with $80 million in savings were not “worth the price of tea in China.”

Chicago residents weighed in during the public comment period before Friday’s meeting and again when the council interrupted the meeting for a public hearing on the budget.

Casey Sweeney of the Chicago Teachers Union urged aldermen to support the mayor’s $16.6 billion spending plan.

“The Protecting Chicago Budget puts forward unprecedented investments in our schools, our parks, our libraries: a billion dollars into those services,” Sweeney said.

In addition to the corporate head tax, the budget includes new taxes on social media, Big Tech and sports betting.

Flora Digby of Southern Shore Yacht Club said the mayor’s proposed yacht tax on boat mooring would drive people to Wisconsin and Indiana.

“You will unfortunately see boat owners going to Kenosha, going to Hammond. Instead of raising the revenue that we need to bridge that gap, we will be losing some of the stable revenue that we have today,” Digby said.

The city council’s budget committee is scheduled to meet Monday.

The full council could vote on the existing budget or a revised plan Tuesday.