Chicago’s self-professed “progressive” Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson is warning that the city’s finances are “at the point of no return” unless he gets massive tax hikes to replace dwindling revenue.
Johnson told his constituents that the “systems that people rely on” are “woefully underfunded” and he wants higher taxes, adding, “everyone knows that. Everyone knows what, you know, my commitment is to progressive revenue. I can’t do this by myself”
Chicago is facing a disastrous $1.1 billion budget deficit for 2026 and Johnson insists that he needs more “progressive” revenue options to fill the shortfall, according to CBS News.
While Johnson did not lay out any particular tax hikes on Tuesday, he has previously said he is looking into instituting a “millionaire tax,” reimplementing the per-employee head tax on corporations doing business in the city, and imposing a tax on social media advertising.
Late last year, Johnson’s plans for a huge $300 million increase in property taxes was knocked down by the city council in a rare unanimous rebuke of a Windy City mayor’s budget proposition. Johnson has since promised not to float that taxing scheme again anytime soon.
The city has not been helped by moves by the state legislature, either.
For one, state Democrats beat back demands that more state tax dollars be handed to Chicago’s mass transit systems.
Worse, left-wing Democrat Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill that puts an even greater burden on Chicago’s already unfunded pension system with a new law that adds an unsustainable $11 billion in additional pension costs for the city’s fire and police departments.
The wild growth in taxes has been a chief reason businesses and residents are leaving Chicago. For years Chicago was one of the worst-case cities for losing population, but over the last two years has seen some small growth. That growth, though, is only because of the arrival of 96,000 foreign migrants.
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