* 12/10/25 - With Dueling Budget Proposals, City Council No Closer To Compromise As Shutdown Deadline Looms......................
Buzz Sawyer
"A majority of alderpeople formally introduced an alternative budget plan
Twenty-seven alderpeople have signed on in support of the amended
With Dueling Budget Proposals, City Council No Closer To Compromise As Shutdown Deadline Looms
CITY HALL — A majority of alderpeople formally introduced an alternative budget plan to City Council Wednesday in a bid to avoid Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed corporate head tax and alter other mayoral spending plans.
Twenty-seven alderpeople have signed on in support of the amended revenue ordinance, which would raise the city’s garbage collection fee, add a retail liquor tax and legalize and regulate video gambling machines — in addition to making a series of efficiencies and other changes.
But passage of the measure will be an uphill battle, especially as the group aims to garner 34 votes in the City Council — the number needed to override a potential mayoral veto. Johnson on Wednesday reiterated that he would veto any budget that includes an increased garbage fee, and he remains firmly in support of the head tax.
Looming over the ongoing standoff is a year-end deadline for the City Council to pass a balanced budget. If it does not do so, a government shutdown could interrupt city services and paychecks for workers come January.
Such an impasse would be unprecedented in Chicago.
“We don’t have any history to draw upon and say, ‘Well, the last time we did it, this is what it looked like.'” Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) said Wednesday. “We are literally going to have to make this up as we go along, and it won’t be pretty. I think that’s one reason we have to do everything we can to avoid this from happening.”
Both Johnson and the alderpeople pitching alternative budget proposals say they’re working hard to avoid a shutdown. But as of Wednesday, the two sides appeared no closer to compromises on the head tax or other disagreements.
This is the second year in a row the city budget process has stretched well into December, with the council narrowly passing Johnson’s 2025 spending plan by a 27-23 vote on Dec. 16.
In an attempt to force more negotiations and a final vote, Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) moved to schedule four full City Council meetings next week, and another one on Dec. 23. The council typically meets once a month.
Several alderpeople said Wednesday they’re concerned this year’s negotiations could go past that date, if not blow the year-end deadline entirely.
“I think there’s a real risk” of a potential government shutdown, Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) said.
Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks during a City Council meeting on Dec. 10, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club ChicagoThe Latest Proposals
Most of the proposed $16.6 billion 2026 budget is not controversial. The stalemate between Johnson and various factions of the City Council comes down to a few key issues, especially the proposed corporate head tax.
The tax would levy a monthly, per-employee fee on companies over a certain size to create a dedicated public safety fund to pay for anti-violence programs, youth hiring and other initiatives.
The mayor and his budget team have tweaked the proposal several times, and Johnson unveiled a version Tuesday that would apply a $33 per person fee for companies with more than 500 employees.
The change would impact an estimated 175 companies and bring in around $80 million annually in revenue, the mayor’s office said.
It’s a significant change from the original proposal, which would have levied a $21 per employee tax on companies with 100 employees or more. Head tax backers have repeatedly said the fee is a way to get wealthy companies to “put some skin in the game.”
“We’re talking about the largest corporations in the city. We are not talking about your local retail shops, however. We are not talking about your mom and pop restaurants,” Johnson said Tuesday. “We are talking about the companies who have done exceedingly well in this current economic climate.”
On the other side, opponents — including many business groups — worry the head tax will be a “job killer” that will cause companies to leave Chicago.
Those concerns and others led a group of alderpeople last week to sign on to an alternative revenue proposal, an amended version of which was introduced to City Council on Wednesday that could still see further revisions.
The ordinance as it now stands would add a three percent retail liquor fee and increase the city’s monthly garbage fee to $15, down from the $18 originally proposed by the group. The current garbage fee for property owners is $9.50.
Beyond the head tax, alderpeople backing the alternative budget proposal also want to see Johnson scrap a borrowing plan to cover backpay for firefighters, as well as make a larger advanced pension payment to put the city on more stable financial footing.
“With these deadlines quickly approaching, we simply cannot risk a shutdown and put the city’s financial stability at risk,” Ald. Nicole Lee (11th) said Wednesday. “Because of that, we’ve been left with no real choice but to move forward today on our own timeline and introduce our package of budget amendments.”
The budget proposal introduced Wednesday includes several new ideas, including legalizing and taxing video gaming terminals to bring in a projected $48.4 million.
Johnson has defended the decision to borrow to pay for the firefighter backpay, which would be spread out over the next three years. On Wednesday, he said the advanced pension payment of $130 million in his budget was based on fiscal and political realities.
Alderpeople stand during a City Council meeting on Dec. 10, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club ChicagoEchoes Of Council Wars?
In a letter sent to alderpeople about the budget this week, Johnson likened this year’s stalemate to the Council Wars era under Mayor Harold Washington, when Chicago’s first Black mayor was staunchly opposed by a group of white alderpeople known as the Vrdolyak 29 — named for chief Washington foe Ald. Ed Vrdolyak.
“The last time a budget was this contentious was when Mayor Washington was the mayor, and there was the block of 29 [alderpeople] that were quite obstinate against the efforts to transform our economy,” Johnson said during a press conference on Tuesday.
Dick Simpson, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois Chicago and former alderperson, said comparing the current budget impasse to Council Wars isn’t quite accurate.
For one thing, the racial and ideological dynamics were much starker when Washington was battling Vrdolyak and other white City Council opponents, he said.
“In Council Wars, there were racial components, and there was even more of an ideological component. It was essentially the reformers with Harold Washington opposing the machine with Vrdolyak and [former Ald. Ed] Burke,” Simpson said. “So neither the racial component — there are different racial groups on each side of the [current] battle — nor the ideological battle, [is] the same.”
Alderpeople pushing their own alternative budget this week bristled at the comparison to the Council Wars era.
“It’s insulting that this mayor would say things like that. We and many more of us, the majority of the City Council, [have] been working for weeks trying to find alternative [budget] options,” Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th) said.
Ald. Samantha Nugent (39th) and Ald. Matthew O’Shea (19th) talk during a City Council meeting on Dec. 10, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club ChicagoWhile much of the focus in recent weeks has been on the mayor’s spending plan versus the alderpeople backing a standalone alternative proposal, there are plenty of City Council members who don’t fall neatly on one side or the other.
Far South Side Ald. Ronnie Mosley (21st) originally signed onto the alternative budget proposal, but has since dropped his support. In a letter this week to his constituents, Mosley said the budget is “not ready for a final vote” and noted he opposes raising garbage taxes as well as “more unnecessary long-term debt or borrowing.”
Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) has also raised concerns about both the mayor’s budget and the City Council proposal. The North Side alderperson supports a head tax, but he doesn’t back borrowing for operating costs, particularly the more than $280 million to cover police misconduct settlements included in Johnson’s budget.
Will there be a shutdown at the end of the month? “Nothing is impossible,” Vasquez said.
“As it looks currently to me, the mayor is not near getting to 26 [votes], and this group is not near getting to 34 [votes],” he said. “So everyone has to get into a room, look at the math problem clear-eyed and transparently, and figure out what we can all stomach. Because something has to get passed.”