Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said the city has a $982 million deficit for its 2025 budget.
Johnson claimed the deficit is due to greater spending on personnel and lower revenues from city taxes.
“The size of the budget gap is significant. It’s going to require decisions that will speak to our overall collective desire to build an economy that works for working people. There will be sacrifices that will be made,” Johnson told reporters.
Last year, Johnson worked with a $538 million budget deficit for 2024.
The mayor did not indicate whether he would raise property taxes, approve slot machines at airports, or legalize video gambling in the city to raise money, CBS News reported.
“There are a number of options that we’ll explore. What we’re working to safeguard against is harm to constituents, to everyday people,” he said. “We’re working to provide as soft of a landing as possible.”
Chairman of the City Council Budget Committee Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) said the city needs to be “reasonable so that we’re not impacting those that have generally been most harmed by taxes and fees throughout the history of our city.” He added that the city should start on the “expense side of paring that down before looking at revenue.”
When asked if the deficit was related to spending on illegal immigrants, budget director Annette Guzman said the deficit is connected to “underperforming revenue,” according to Axios.
In December, Johnson announced that he allocated $500,000 in his budget for “restoration and reparations.” A quarter of a billion dollars was also allocated to address the city’s homelessness, as well as $100 million for “violence prevention.”
