(The Center Square) – Chicago Ald. Raymond Lopez is vowing to make Mayor Brandon Johnson a man of his words when it comes to a pledge not to raise property taxes
A senior Johnson administration official recently told Bloomberg News such policy changes could be on the way. The city seeks to dig itself out from under a $1 billion 2026 budget deficit and $37 billion overall in unfunded pension liability.
The looming changes come after Johnson as a candidate pledged not to go down that road, even going as far as to blast such action as a “lazy form of government.”
Lopez said he’s heard enough.
“The city of Chicago is facing some serious financial challenges, not because we necessarily have a falloff in revenue, but simply because we have uncontrolled spending,” Lopez told The Center Square. “We have a budget that went from $11 billion to $17 billion in a matter of five years without matching revenues.”
Lopez said he and other aldermen wanted to go back to pre-COVID budgets and adjust for inflation.
“Additionally, when we look at all the new positions, programs and expenditures that we’ve seen over the last five years, those were not meant to be in perpetuity,” Lopez said.
As the property tax debate has picked up steam, Johnson has sought to quell the growing uneasiness by backing away from the claim and reaffirming he has no plans of enacting any such increases any time soon.
Lopez doesn’t seem sure what to believe, especially since Johnson’s 2024 budget included a $300 million property tax hike proposal that only disappeared after the full City Council voted to reject it.
“The mayor and his allies only know two things when it comes to government, borrow more or raise more taxes,” he said. “They don’t know what it means to reduce spending because they’ve never seen a taxpayer dollar that they didn’t want to spend. We need to control our spending.”
Earlier this year, Johnson brought together a team of business leaders, elected officials and community members to study city operations and revenue options with recommendations expected by the end of August.
