Johnson Has Mostly Himself To Blame For This Year's Rocky Budget Process - Chicago Sun-Times

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Mayor Brandon Johnson largely has himself to blame for his last-minute decision to cancel a vote set for Friday on his 2025 city budget.

• A 14% approval rating that has emboldened his opponents and sent his own allies running for cover.

• A two-week budget delay that put alderpersons behind the eight ball after his first budget was balanced with one-time revenues.

• An inexperienced mayor who calls himself "collaborator-in-chief" but has, too often, kept the City Council in the dark while making up parliamentary rules as he goes along.

"It really comes down to trust. Chicago doesn't trust the mayor today and alders are feeling that when they go back to their wards," said Southwest Side Ald. Marty Quinn (13th).

"This is a career-defining vote. ... If they intend to vote `yes' and haven't supplied constituents with a 'why' and can justify it, they will have allowed their residents to finish the sentence. You voted for a property tax increase because what?"

That $68.5 million property tax increase is among a slew of tax hikes making the mayor's $17.3 billion budget hard for some alderpersons to swallow.

The deep distrust between the mayor and the Council was on display this week when Johnson tried to lock down the budget votes of two leadership team members — Police Committee Chair Chris Taliaferro (29th) and Housing Chair Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) — by adding a combined $80,000 to their committee budgets.