Chicago’s Budget Rose $5.7 Billion in Four Years, but Mayor Brandon Johnson Wants More

Chicago’s budget skyrocketed by $5.7 billion since 2019 and now totals $16.4 billion in 2023, yet recently elected “progressive” Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) is proposing a long list of higher taxes because he wants even more money from the Windy City’s beleaguered residents.

Even as businesses and citizens alike flee Chicago, the city’s self-styled “progressive” mayor is looking to dole out another $1 billion in “investments,” according to Wirepoints.

Illinois, in general — and Chicago, in particular — have suffered some of the highest outward migration in the country, with Chicago coming in third for losing the most citizens in 2022, according to moving company Pods. Only Los Angeles and San Francisco rank higher in the number of people who have fled their city.

According to the Illinois Policy Institute, 32% of the state’s 104,437-person loss came from Chicago. The Windy City has lost population for nine years running, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Wirepoints also noted that Illinois suffered the nation’s third worst loss of businesses in 2021, as companies closed shop and moved out.

But according to Wirepoints, Johnson is seeking yet another hike with his $16.377 billion budget — a $5.7 billion increase over former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s (D) 2019 budget, which came in at $10.67 billion. Lightfoot’s budget was an increase over former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s (D) $9.23 billion budget in 2015.

Even as the city’s budget has soared 53 percent over the last four years, its private sector income growth has risen only an anemic 11.2 percent, Wirepoints added.

One of Johnson’s new tax grabs is his supposed “mansion tax,” a scheme to hike taxes progressively on property valued at $1 million and above. The plan would create a three-tiered property tax scheme, putting homes worth up to $1 million at a .6 percent rate, properties worth between $1 million and $1.5 million at two percent, and homes worth more than $1.5 million would be hit with a three percent tax.

Johnson has claimed that he would use this glut of new taxes to “fight homelessness.”

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