Editor’s Note

Welcome to Newswire — your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what action we can take to make our city great, featuring public meeting coverage by City Bureau’s Documenters.

Quote of the Week

“Is it perfect? No. Has it been pulled in a million different directions? Yes. Has it changed and morphed over time in response to the input that's coming from alderpeople in this body? Absolutely, yes.”

— Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th Ward) on the 2025 Chicago budget, which he voted to adopt.

[Chicago City Council, Dec. 16, 2024]


City Council passes a budget for the 2025 fiscal year, 27-23.

At what cost?

Forty-seven days after Mayor Brandon Johnson introduced his budget proposal, Chicago City Council approved the city’s 2025 spending plan Monday evening. It was a tight vote, 27 to 23, just one vote over the minimum needed for the budget to pass.

The final version of the budget was shared with alders less than 24 hours before the vote. It eliminates any property tax increase, instead adding smaller taxes on other services, pursuing reimbursement for police overtime costs from big event planners and identifying other “efficiencies,” including cuts to mayoral staffing positions and innovative programs such as  a guaranteed income program reliant on COVID-19 relief funds.

Over  the four-hour meeting, some alders commended Johnson for his compromises, while others chastised him for a lack of transparency, collaboration and expediency. “I’m sick and tired of coming down here [to City Hall] myself,” said Ald. Emma Mitts (37th Ward), adding that this has taken away important time with her constituents.

And that’s bingo!

Thanks to all those who played along with budget bingo yesterday and special congratulations to our winners: Maura Kernell, Angela Ybarra (who also covered meetings this budget season as a Chicago Documenter!) and Estefania de la Torre!

We’re kicking ourselves that we didn’t have “kicking the can down the road” on our bingo card, but there’s always next time.

A taxing TIF

Following City Council’s unanimous rejection of a property tax hike in mid-November, an amended property tax levy of $68.5 million passed in a 14-12 committee vote last week, part of  a continued effort to close the $1 billion budget deficit. 

“We have a spending problem in the city  of Chicago. We don't have a revenue problem. We are spending far too much money. This government is bloated,” Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd Ward) said, calling for spending cuts.  The revenue package underwent significant revisions over the weekend, with the property tax hike axed entirely after Johnson postponed the budget vote on Friday. Chicago last increased property taxes in 2022.

Starting in March, existing residents of “Block 606” will get the right of first refusal on most property sales within the bounds of Western and Kostner avenues and Addison and Division streets. Alders signed off on text revisions to the Northwest Side housing preservation ordinance, which City Council approved in September. The measure, which aims to combat gentrification in Avondale, Hermosa, Humboldt Park, Logan Square and West Town, was criticized by the Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance and a realtor during public comment. 

Neighborhood-centered anti-gentrification ordinances have gained traction in recent years. City Council approved a Woodlawn housing protections ordinance in 2020 as the Obama Presidential Center is built, while talks are ongoing to establish similar legislation in South Shore.

  • City Council Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards by Adlyn Morrison

Alders signed off on land acquisition needed to build a bridge and viaduct along Taylor Street connecting Canal and Wells streets across the river. The project would receive up to $3 million from the Roosevelt/Clark tax increment financing district.

Up to $5.5 million in tax increment financing funds could go to redevelopment of LeClaire Courts, a former public housing site in Garfield Ridge. City Council continues to wind down TIF districts across the city, designated areas where the city funds development by borrowing against future tax revenue. The 2025 budget projects $570 million in TIF funds, according to a press release from the Mayor’s Office.

A version of this story was first published in the December 18, 2024 issue of the Newswire, an email newsletter that is your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what we can do to make our city great. You can sign up for the weekly newsletter here.

Have thoughts on what you'd like to see in this feature? Email Civic Editor Dawn Rhodes at dawn@citybureau.org.