Pritzker, alders oppose Chicago tax plans, property tax hike could be next

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – As the Chicago City Council considers 2026 budget measures, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed tax hikes continue to draw disapproval from a wide range of critics.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker spoke at a union ribbon-cutting event in Chicago on Thursday and reiterated his opposition to Johnson’s proposed corporate head tax.

“I think that taxing businesses on the number of jobs that they’re creating is a bad way to go. Do I think that we ought to have a more graduated income tax system or one in which wealthy businesses, wealthy people are paying a higher percentage than average working people? Yes, I do,” Pritzker said.

Johnson’s head tax would impose a $21-per-worker monthly tax on businesses with 100 employees or more.

The mayor’s proposed budget for 2026 also includes taxes on sports betting, social media and “Big Tech.”

Chicago Flips Red Vice President Danielle Carter-Walters told the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations that city officials have no clue how to bring money in.

“Everything in these budgets, all they do is incentivize businesses to leave, people to leave. They don’t incentivize people to come here and open up businesses,” Carter-Walters said.

Chicago resident Dennis White urged aldermen to vote against Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed budget.

“Brandon Johnson is very incompetent, but for you all to vote for what Brandon Johnson wanted, it’s like you all are as disgraceful as he is,” White said.

The full council is scheduled to meet Friday and could consider the mayor’s budget measures. The city is required by ordinance to pass a budget by the end of the year.

Alderman Raymond Lopez suggested to The Center Square that, if the corporate head tax fails, the mayor could push a property tax increase.

Lopez noted that Chicago Budget Director Annette Guzman sent a letter to City Clerk Anna Valencia suggesting the need for an estimated property tax increase of $1.8 billion.

Lopez said the letter has no authority behind it, but it could signal the property tax levy to comply with the Illinois Truth in Taxation law.

“The only time you have to announce what the levy is in advance is when you are making a change greater than 5%. It makes me wonder, is this the mayor covering his bases, so that in case he were to propose a last-minute switch and increase the property tax to make up for the lost revenue that he may not get from the head taxes and hemp and other things, then there may actually be a secondary budget or at least a secondary property tax levy plan in the works that includes a larger property tax increase next year,” Lopez told The Center Square.

Guzman said this week that her office is looking at efficiencies, but some council members the Johnson administration is not doing enough to cut spending.

The city paid Ernst & Young $3 million in taxpayer funds for a budget analysis.

Guzman said her office is starting with options in 2026 that will save money in 2027 and beyond.

“It takes time for us to implement options because, frankly, our structures and our operations didn’t get here overnight. They didn’t get here in one year,” Guzman said.

Guzman said her office would look at centralized procurement process as a potential way to save.

Alderman Anthony Beale told Guzman her office is just skimming the surface.

“Coming out of the gate with 70 recommendations out of a hundred and we come out with $80 million, I don’t think that’s worth the price of tea in China,” Beale said.

Chicago is facing a budget deficit of more than $1.1 billion.

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