Overview
- The council advanced an alternative revenue package to fund a roughly $16.6 billion budget that leans on a 15% cloud tax, higher bag and liquor taxes, expanded rideshare congestion fees, legalized video gambling, new advertising and an estimated $90 million from selling unpaid city debt.
- Budget officials for Mayor Brandon Johnson argue the plan would leave about a $163 million shortfall in 2026 and question key assumptions, especially the debt sale and expected receipts from video gambling and revised bag and liquor taxes.
- Johnson attempted to reintroduce a corporate head tax as a substitute for the debt sale, but his proposal was routed to the Rules Committee and stalled.
- A final vote on the spending ordinances is set for Saturday, and the opposition bloc’s 29 votes are five short of the 34 required to override a potential mayoral veto.
- The council-backed plan restores the full advance pension payment and adds funding for priorities such as gender‑based violence programs and library collections while rejecting garbage and corporate head taxes.