Critics of Mayor Brandon Johnson's budget drop garbage collection fee hike from alternate spending plan
Critics of Mayor Brandon Johnson's budget plan have dropped their own plans for an increase in the city's garbage collection fee, as they expressed optimism that they could pass an alternative budget plan that avoids the corporate head tax backed by the mayor.
City leaders are racing to pass a budget before the end of the year. The City Council must pass a budget by Dec. 31 or face a city government shutdown.
Aldermen had scheduled five City Council meetings between Monday and Christmas in hopes of passing a budget before the deadline, but the first of those meetings ended before it began on Monday as not enough council members were present to establish the necessary quorum.
However, a coalition of aldermen opposed to the mayor's budget plan said Monday that they have revised their alternate budget proposal to eliminate plans to raise the city's garbage collection fee from $9.50 per month to $15 per month.
The mayor had vowed to veto any budget that included higher garbage collection fees, and it had become clear aldermen would not get the 34 votes needed to override a veto.
In a statement on the revised alternative spending plan, Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) said their latest proposal also would maintain funding for youth jobs that the mayor had proposed in his original budget, fully fund the collections budget for the Chicago Public Library, and provide additional funding for gender-based violence.
"We believe that this final proposal represents the position of an even broader number of alders than we had just a few days ago and are excited to move forward in this process to avoid a shutdown and give residents, families and businesses the peace of mind they deserve as we close out 2025," Villegas said.
However, the statement from Villegas did not reveal how aldermen would replace the revenue they would have raised from a higher garbage collection fee, or how they would fund the youth jobs, gender-based violence programs, or Chicago Public Library collections.
Instead, Villegas only said that the group of aldermen has "confidence" in their revenue projections.
"Our advisors are among some of the city's best budget and finance experts who dug deep into the numbers alongside our coalition going on eight weeks," Villegas said. "As we all know, every spending and revenue number in a budget is an estimate and that applies to our numbers as it does with those assumed in the Mayor's proposal. Our budget is balanced, and we are ready to move forward with our spending and revenue projections. "
Among other measures, their alternative budget also would increase liquor taxes, expand a rideshare surcharge for Uber and Lyft, improve debt collection by selling some outstanding debt to collection agencies.
The aldermen said they look forward to meeting with the mayor on Monday afternoon to discuss their latest proposal in hopes of moving forward with a budget plan.
A key sticking point in budget talks has been the mayor's proposal for a corporate head tax, which his critics see as a job killer.
For his part, Johnson has revised his corporate head tax proposal from $21 per employee per month for companies with 100 employees or more to $33 dollars per employee per month at companies with at least 500 workers.
Community organizers who have sided with the mayor have said they will demand corporations help pay for violence prevention programs, youth jobs, and gender-based violence services. They are pushing for the City Council to keep the mayor's revised head tax, which Johnson's office has said would generate $82 million a year in revenue.
"Dedicated funding is crucial to protecting these services. We generate this funding by asking large corporations to pitch in when neighbors and survivors don't have the means to," said Breanna Champion, an organizer with the Chicago Black Voter Project.
Meanwhile, 13 members of the Chicago Board of Education are calling on the City Council to use the funding bill to support schools.
In a letter to alders that will be sent Monday, the board members want the budget to honor promises on Tax Increment Financing district funding, and to include funding for essential programs that are being threatened by federal funding cuts.