The migrant crisis that has seen 18,000 asylum-seekers descend on Chicago has been the first big test of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s leadership.
The second major test comes Wednesday, when Johnson unveils his 2024 city budget.
Johnson will stand before the Chicago City Council and disclose how he plans to deliver on his campaign promise to make $1 billion worth of “investments in people” bankrolled by $800 million in new or increased taxes on businesses and wealthy Chicagoans.
With a $538 million shortfall, more than $200 million of it tied to the migrant crisis, Johnson’s floor leader has already telegraphed the mayor’s decision to plug at least some of the gap by declaring another tax increment financing surplus and by eliminating employee vacancies.
Johnson hinted strongly at the possibility of eliminating at least some of the 1,700 police vacancies on the day the City Council unanimously confirmed his appointment of Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling.
Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th), the former Chicago police officer now chairing the City Council’s Police Committee, can only hope that doesn’t happen.
“We are moving close to 2,000 officers short of the 13,500 we are normally accustomed to. I would not support getting rid of vacancies that we have or zeroing them out. That would essentially be defunding our police department,” Taliaferro said.
Every weekend, Taliaferro said he gets phone calls and text messages from his West Side constituents complaining they’ve called police “13, 14 and 15 times” with no response because of the “serious backlog our police officers have.”
“If we continue to lose police officers in the numbers that we’ve been losing them, it’s going to be even more difficult for them to respond to calls in a timely manner,” he said.
Lowering expectations
For weeks, the mayor and his top aides have been trying to lower expectations for fear of disappointing his supporters.
“I came into this role very clear about the historical disinvestment. I’m very clear about what I’ve inherited. It’s going to take time ultimately. ... You’re not gonna be able to right this ship in its entirety in 100 days. This is why I’m grateful to have a four-year term,” Johnson told the Sun-Times as he approached his benchmark 100-day anniversary.
Johnson set the same “be patient with me” tone when asked last week how many of the six shuttered mental health clinics he would seek to reopen in his first budget.
“Here’s the good news: That I get to pass multiple budgets. ... So you’re not going to undo the type of trauma that has been executed against the people of Chicago in one budget,” the mayor said.
“We have a working group that is going to come up with recommendations. ... The good news is this, though: We’re talking about reopening mental health centers. Who would have thought? That’s good news, Chicago. We’re having conversations that we weren’t having in the last administration,” he said.
The “working group” on the mayor’s “Treatment Not Trauma” plan to reopen six shuttered mental health clinics and create a citywide, nonpolice response to mental health emergencies, has bought the mayor time. It punts the decision on how many clinics to open and how to pay for it until May 31, 2024, when a final report is due on Johnson’s desk.
The revised “Bring Chicago Home” plan to raise the real estate transfer tax on high-end home sales to generate $100 million in annual revenue to combat homelessness also buys the mayor time.
Chicago voters won’t be asked to approve that binding referendum until March — and the question will only appear on the primary ballot if a majority of City Council members agree to put it there. A second City Council vote would then need to follow to implement the tax and determine how the money would be spent.
Industry concerns
In the meantime, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce President Jack Lavin said he’s “heard rumors” Johnson may forge ahead with his campaign plan to raise the city’s 4.5% tax on hotel rooms and seek to impose a new tax on digital advertising, as suggested by the Action Center on Race & the Economy and the People’s Unity Platform just days after the new mayor took office.
“Our tourism and hospitality industry is a key part of our economy. It’s one of the areas where we’re making a comeback from the pandemic. It creates jobs. That would hurt the growth of our economy. Things like a digital tax — that’s a growth area for our economy, and we don’t want to hurt growth areas,” Lavin said.
“We’re concerned about any new revenues, given the impact we’re already having on the business community with skyrocketing property taxes, a potential real estate transfer tax, the tipped wage credit going away, a proposal to increase paid time off from five days to more than 15 days. High inflation. Lingering impacts of the pandemic,” he said.
Lavin applauded the mayor for going beyond the state-mandated minimum pension payment and for holding the line on property taxes and getting rid of the automatic escalator that would have increased property taxes to match the rate of inflation.
But, he said, “We need to look for efficiencies to address the deficit and not burden the business community, especially small businesses who are creating jobs.”
