The Chicago City Council has approved a budget plan for 2026, but Mayor Brandon Johnson retains the option to veto the decision.

On Saturday, the council gave the green light to a $16.6 billion budget in a vote of 30 to 18. Notably absent is the contentious corporate head tax suggested by the mayor. Due to the vote count, the budget is not immune to a potential veto by Johnson.

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City officials found themselves under significant pressure, racing against time to finalize the budget. With a looming government shutdown deadline just two weeks away and Christmas approaching in less than a week, urgency was paramount.

“From the beginning, our aim was to approve a budget that wouldn’t jeopardize jobs, especially as the city faces its toughest economic outlook since the pandemic,” stated 39th Ward Alderman Samantha Nugent, a supporter of the budget that ultimately passed.

The decision came after intense discussions among Chicago City Council members during an uncommon Saturday session, which convened at 10 a.m.

The move comes a day after alders approved amended 2026 revenue ordinance Friday, which determines how the city will bring in money next year.

“We have an obligation to pass a budget that is honest, reliable, and truly balanced. This budget is not.

Mayor Johnson and some alderpersons do not support the alternative budget, which a majority of alderpersons are behind, calling it unbalanced.

“We have an obligation to pass a budget that is honest, reliable, and truly balanced. This budget is not,” 26th Ward Ald. Jessie Fuentes said.

“This is not the alternative budget, this is the billionaire budget,” 25th Ward Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez said.

The plan partially calls for increased collections of debt owed to the city and focusing on businesses and developers who can afford to pay versus the working poor, who are unable to pay for items like unpaid parking tickets or water bills. It also relies on an increase in the city’s plastic bag tax, ride share tax and liquor sales tax, while adding video gaming to restaurants and advertising to light poles and city vehicles.

“We take nothing for granted here,” 11th Ward Ald. Nicole Lee said. “We’re proud of the work of this coalition, and as I say it many times, I don’t believe there’s one member of council who wants to see a government shut down.”

The budget by the alders also proposes bringing in nearly $90 million from selling some debt owed to the city for unpaid fines and fees, a proposal the mayor and his supporters have called “immoral.” The administration says the alternate proposal would lead to a projected $163 million deficit in 2026.

“We build our hope on what is just, and what is just is what I laid out in my protecting Chicago budget that continue to lay the groundwork for transformation,” Mayor Johnson said.

Chicago faces a projected $1.2 billion shortfall for 2026 stemming from from expiring federal pandemic aid, rising employee costs and structural imbalances.

‘We’re taking steps at a time,” 37th Ward Ald. Emma Mitts said. “We’re not trying to take giant steps here, cause we’re in the unknown territory.”

Alderpersons said 30 members of council supported the alternative plan, but that figure still falls a bit short of the 34 votes needed to override a mayoral veto.

In a last-minute move Friday, the mayor reintroduced his controversial corporate head tax, but it was immediately sent to the Rules Committee, where it was likely dead.

The mayor’s modified budget also calls for allowing gaming at Midway Airport instead of having video gaming terminals spread around the city. The mayor’s proposal also restores the full pension payment for city employees, a position his opponents had been pushing for.

Since the alderpersons advocating for the alternative budget succeeded in voting their version through over the mayor’s objection, it is now the first time that has happened in decades, if ever.

It is not yet clear if Mayor Johnson will veto the budget or not. He says he will make a decision by Christmas.

The city has until Dec. 30 to officially pass a budget or the city will go into a government shutdown.