To balance budget, Mayor Johnson should overhaul departments viewed as 'untouchable'

As Chicago faces yet another year of fiscal uncertainty and piecemeal solutions, it's time to acknowledge a hard truth: We are staring down the barrel of a wide range of potential tax increases and public service cuts.

This is not just about balancing numbers on a spreadsheet. Reducing the property tax increase from the proposed $300 million to $60 million is just the first necessary step. Let’s keep going to protect Chicagoans, specifically those who pay property taxes.

In 2012, when Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed his first budget during my tenure as alderman, we faced a daunting fiscal landscape. Our nation was barely coming out of the Great Recession, when many Chicagoans had lost money on Wall Street and saw the value of their homes plummet. Emanuel’s approach was clear and disciplined. I wholeheartedly supported it: cut spending, reform government and demand accountability.

During the last dozen or so budgets, the city’s property tax levy soared from approximately $834 million in 2012 to well over $1.7 billion in 2024. Adding to the mounting tax burden, the Chicago Public Schools property tax levy, including the school building fund, has ballooned from $2.3 billion in 2012 to more than $4 billion in its latest budget.

The Johnson administration’s original financial ask of taxpayers has plummeted dramatically: from $300 million to $150 million, and now to $68.5 million. This substantial reduction raises a critical question: Was the initial property tax increase truly necessary? Was there an overstatement of the fiscal crisis?

In addition, the administration's plan for economic development and affordable housing misses the mark, as it is not rooted in fiscal responsibility to protect taxpayers. The plan consists of a $1.25 billion bond issuance that is tied to tax increment financing (TIF) revenues — an approach that will shift the cost to individual taxpayers if property valuations in the TIFs decline.

This borrowing will entail an annual debt service payment of approximately $81 million, totaling a whopping $2.4 billion through 2061. This long-term obligation will constrain future budgets and limit fiscal flexibility.

Restructure departments, collect debts, protect property owners

Reform must come not from vague promises but through measurable and enforceable mandates. To start, let’s restructure departments that were once considered untouchable:

• Streets and Sanitation must modernize its waste management practices to reduce costs.
• In the 2025 appropriation, operational expenses went from $125 million to $139 million, a significant increase year-to-year. Snow removal, a perennial expense, could be streamlined by leveraging technology and smarter deployment of resources.
• Fleet and Facility Management, responsible for utility expenses, which have steadily risen, climbed $14 million in this budget year.

Restructuring how the city does business is just one part of the equation. The city is owed a staggering sum of over $6.4 billion, with over $421 million in unpaid water bills alone.

In this year’s budget, revenue from fines, forfeitures and penalties are projected to decrease by $22 million, and it's indicative of lack of payment enforcement. This number didn’t appear overnight, and it won’t stop growing unless we act.

In 2024, as happens every three years in Cook County, Chicago is being assessed for property tax purposes. Historically, each reassessment brings a shift in tax burden from one type of taxpayer to another. In addition, tax burdens are shifted from one neighborhood of the city to another. As the Cook County Treasurer correctly reports, property tax collection rates remain a problem in low-income city neighborhoods.

As the tax levy rises and the assessments rise, are the city’s most vulnerable residents and small businesses at even greater risk? To protect the most vulnerable property taxpayers, relief programs such as a circuit breaker must be readied now.

Starting with Chicago’s 2025 budget plan, we must act decisively. If we don’t course-correct now, the city risks falling into a cycle of financial instability that will be felt for generations. The time for bold, pragmatic action is now. Our taxpayers are too important for us not to act.

George A. Cardenas is a commissioner on the Cook County Board of Review and a former member of the City Council.

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