Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2026 budget proposal includes a per-user tax on social media companies and a per-employee fee on businesses. The proposal does not include a property tax hike and supports the elimination of the grocery tax.
Chicago’s 2025 budget needed $345 million in fines, forfeitures and penalties. It was $99 million 30 years ago. What will the new budget extract from residents?
Chicago lost nearly 1-in-5 businesses between 2015 and 2024, translating to nearly 11,200 fewer businesses operating in the city. Of the city’s 98 neighborhoods, 80 lost 10% or more of their businesses. Mag Mile lost 41% of its stores.
Peoria Heights’ mayor vetoed a grocery tax, saying the village would not balance its budget on the backs of families at the grocery checkout. Now Chicago is considering taking $73.5 million through the tax.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker had a chance to stop a bill putting taxpayers on the hook for $11.1 billion in inflated pension benefits for Chicago police and firefighters. He blew it. Taxpayers will be paying the price for decades.
As Chicago faces a major deficit for fiscal year 2026, Mayor Brandon Johnson is considering resurrecting a failed idea that punishes job creation: the corporate head tax.
Legalizing additional dwelling units across Chicago would expand housing options, support families and boost affordability without changing the character of single-family neighborhoods. Chicago’s mayor is ready to move on the issue.
A violent Independence Day weekend has Chicagoans worried about violent crime, but it was a spike and not a trend. Crime is falling, thanks to new law enforcement efforts.
Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.