Chicago has a budget deficit of nearly $1 billion. Tack on another $2.9 billion for a proposed teachers’ contract plus an unknown amount for firefighters.
Chicago’s Budget Gap
CBS News reports Chicago Faces $982 Million Budget Shortfall for 2025
Mayor Brandon Johnson is projecting a $982 million city budget shortfall for 2025, nearly double the spending gap he faced in his first year in office, thanks to rising personnel costs, drops in some key tax revenues, and expiring one-time budget solutions he relied on to balance the 2024 budget.
Johnson declined to say if he would raise property taxes, authorize legalizing video gambling in Chicago, or approve placing slot machines at the city’s airports as ways to raise new revenue to balance the budget for 2025. He also would not rule out the possibility of layoffs or a hiring freeze.
“The chickens have come home to roost. It is time to get busy,” said Joe Ferguson, president of the Civic Federation, a nonpartisan public finance watchdog group.
“Springfield is not coming to the aid of the city anytime soon. Springfield has its own issues that it has to deal with. Springfield also needs to see that the city is actually taking care of its own house before it’s going to come with any additional help,” Ferguson said.
Soft Landing Hoot of the Day
“We’re working to provide as soft of a landing as possible,” said Johnson.
Expenses Up, Revenues Down
Budget Director Annette Guzman said the city is expecting continued drop in revenue from the personal property replacement tax – a tax on corporations collected by the state and passed on to local governments. The city saw a drop of $169 million in revenue from that tax in 2024, and is expecting an even bigger drop in 2025.
The Chicago Board of Education also recently approved a Chicago Public Schools budget plan that does not include a $175 million payment for pensions for nonteaching staff at the district, a cost the city once covered, but that CPS had paid for over the last four years until now, and Johnson’s budget team isn’t expecting the district to cover that cost for 2025.
Another factor putting pressure on the city’s budget for next year is ongoing contract talks with the union for the city’s firefighters and paramedics, who have gone more than three years without a new contract.
Chicago Teachers Union $2.9 billion Deficit
In addition to the above, please note the CTU’s Proposed Contract would tack on another $2.9 billion.
Chicago Public Schools officials said Tuesday that the Chicago Teachers Union’s contract proposals would result in a deficit of at least $2.9 billion for the 2025-26 school year, a hole more than five times the current projection and growing as large as $4 billion by 2028.
They also threw cold water on the idea of borrowing to pay for the additional costs, noting the district is already weighed down by a ton of debt, much of it taken out at moments of crisis. That marked the first time CPS had publicly addressed a private proposal by Mayor Brandon Johnson for district officials to take out a short-term, high-interest loan to pay for a CTU contract as well as a pension payment that his office is demanding be covered by the district. CPS officials had pushed back on that idea privately.
The union, which in recent weeks has grown increasingly critical of CPS CEO Pedro Martinez and his approach to the budget, is reportedly asking for 9% annual raises for teachers, plus promises that every school will have a baseline of staff that will allow for small class sizes and a variety of arts, music and physical education classes. The CTU also has made proposals around more preparation time for elementary school teachers, housing for homeless students and support for migrant children.
The union pointed to revenue initiatives that the city and state could explore, like more heavily taxing millionaires and corporations — which would require changes to state law — or seeking federal funding for school building improvements.
Give Credit Where Credit Is Due
Johnson proposes a “short-term, high-interest loan to pay for a CTU contract .”
Then what?
Let’s give credit where credit is due. No matter how stupid you think Chicago’s mayor is, every election the city manages to find someone worse.
Even Lori Lightfoot was better than this.
However, any thinking person knew this in advance. Johnson was hand picked by the CTU to screw the city, screw the taxpayers, screw the corporations, and screw the kids.
March 13: Chicago Teachers’ Union Seeks $50 Billion Despite $700 Million City Deficit
March 15: Congratulations to NY, IL, LA, and CA for Losing the Most Population
August 11: Net Zero Climate Policies Could Leave the Midwest in the Dark
July 2: In Chicago There’s Under a 50 Percent Chance Police Show Up If You are Shot
Brandon Johnson is the worst mayor in Chicago history, and that’s saying quite a bit.
If you live in Illinois, get the hell out before unions take every penny you have.
By the way, if you want to vote for a Chicago bailout and massive tax increases to pay for it (even if you don’t live in Chicago), then vote for Kamala Harris.
