CHICAGO (WLS) — This fall, Chicago’s city workforce, including police officers, may face potential layoffs as a dispute unfolds between Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City Council’s budget accountability coalition over a looming $98 million budget deficit projected for the middle of the fiscal year.
The most recent budget report from Johnson’s administration highlights this significant shortfall, sparking a fresh wave of blame concerning stalled revenue measures. The financial strain threatens jobs, as well as a planned $260 million advance payment towards pensions.
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During a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Bronzeville, Johnson expressed frustration with aldermen who had previously dismissed his proposal for a corporate head tax in last year’s budget discussions.
“We’re talking about workers, right? But that’s what we talked about during the budget season,” remarked Johnson. “The city council clearly prioritized the interests of large corporate entities over those of the workforce.”
Johnson attributed the deficit partly to the council’s alternative revenue strategies that have yet to generate income. On the other hand, Finance Committee Chairwoman Pat Dowell countered this claim, insisting that the council’s proposals were already integrated into the budget and criticized the administration for its delayed implementation.
“We’ve come up with solutions, and they’re baked into the budget. We need the administration to implement the budget,” Dowell said. “As you heard yesterday, a lot of the things that we wanted to pursue, they’ve taken their sweet time to do that.”
The administration has suggested that if layoffs become necessary, police may have to be included to achieve significant savings. John Catanzara Jr., president of the Fraternal Order of Police, warned that such cuts would be dangerous.
“We’re in the middle of the most violent part of the year, historically speaking,” Catanzara said. “There’s a lot of unknowns within the police department in the city at the moment, and taking sworn police officers off the street, couldn’t be a dumber idea for anybody to even utter those words out loud.”
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Dowell said layoffs are not the only option and pointed to potential efficiencies, including an employee buyout program.
“I threw out an idea yesterday about an employee buyout, which they haven’t even evaluated. So, to me, this is scare tactics,” she said.
Johnson also reiterated his push for new taxes targeting wealthy residents and large corporations.
“That strategy failed,” he said of the council’s alternative revenue plan. “Now city council has to come back to the table and come up with something that’s going to ensure that our budget is not just structurally sound, but of course we challenge those with means to put more skin in the game.”
With an election year ahead and both sides emphasizing different revenue priorities, reaching a compromise could prove difficult.
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