Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson recently announced that the far-left city can expect a $982 million deficit for its 2025 budget, almost double what it was for his first year in office.
The Post Millennial reported that Johnson blamed the shortfall on higher spending on city workers and lower revenues from city taxes.
“The size of the budget gap is significant. It’s going to require decisions that will speak to our overall collective desire to build an economy that works for working people. There will be sacrifices that will be made,” Johnson told reporters on Aug. 28, 2024.
In 2023, Johnson dealt with a $538 million budget deficit for 2024 and managed not to lay off city personnel or raise taxes. Johnson declined to say if he would reach for either of those options in the current financial crisis. He also said nothing about possibly legalizing video gambling in the city and slot machines at the airport to raise more money. The mayor also did not deny that layoffs or a hiring freeze in the city could happen.
“There are a number of options that we’ll explore. What we’re working to safeguard against is harm to constituents, to everyday people. We’re working to provide as soft of a landing as possible,” he said.
According to government spending analysts, the city was running a massive deficit, and the mayor will have to understand spending cuts and tax increases.
“The chickens have come home to roost. It is time to get busy. There’s not a silver bullet here. There is not a one size takes care of everything in all situation. We have to open up the budget itself in ways that we haven’t done for many years,” Joe Ferguson, president of the Civic Federation, a nonpartisan watchdog group that focuses on the city’s finances, said.
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