After his proposed $300 million property tax increase was unanimously rejected by the City Council, Mayor Brandon Johnson lowered the amount to $150 million and urged his detractors to take a more responsible stand. “Some of the actions and actions being taken are related to certain people who are currently having tantrums. You need to mature. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Johnson stated, “The people of Chicago don’t have time for that.”
It’s still uncertain if the mayor can secure the required 26 City Council votes for the updated proposal as the December 31 deadline for passing a 2025 financial plan approaches. “If there were 26 votes to pass it, you would see this meeting scheduled in order to pass it,” CBS Chicago reports that Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) has stated that the support just isn’t there, signaling a serious rift in budget negotiations. “The votes aren’t there, so it hasn’t happened,” he told CBS Chicago.
Johnson has reportedly contemplated raising the city’s tax on streaming services and boosting the personal property lease tax on cloud services in reaction to the City Council’s 50-0 vote against his initial tax rise. The suggested tax changes are a component of a comprehensive strategy to close a projected $1 billion budget deficit. According to Johnson’s administration, increasing the personal property lease tax on cloud computing to 11 percent could bring in $128 million, while hiking the tax on streaming services would bring in an extra $10 million a year.
The mayor claims that his administration has contacted each and every alderman, despite some accusing him of excluding them from the budget discussions. “Everyone has been contacted or reached. “Now look, let me just say it, some people respond faster than others,” Johnson said, expressing a dedication to working across party lines. However, critics tell a different tale. The original property tax proposal was opposed by Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), who also expressed his disdain of Johnson’s recent comments. “You’ve already lost when you start name-calling,” Beale told the Chicago Sun-Times. “We’re trying to protect taxpayers, we re trying to cut spending and be fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars, and all he wants to do is create more avenues to spend and nickel and dime the people of Chicago.”
“What happened last week was not a tantrum,” said Ald. Marty Quinn (13th), who also refuted the mayor’s claims of tantrums by highlighting the Council’s receptiveness to Chicagoans’ wishes. Quinn told the Chicago Sun-Times, “It was being responsive to what Chicago wants.” The essence of the problem is still evident despite the contentious discussions and budget proposals: Johnson wants to enact a budget that addresses the city’s structural deficit while avoiding layoffs or service cuts, despite the City Council’s extreme deadlock.
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