Mayor Brandon Johnson told aldermen that his third budget, a $16.6 billion spending plan, is all about protecting Chicago from President Donald Trump’s cuts. However, the facts show this budget is not about Trump’s cuts but more about preserving the status quo of tax-and-spend — without any real structural reforms. The 2026 budget has over a $1 billion deficit. If Johnson truly wants to protect Chicago, he will make structural changes necessary to preserve the city for generations to come.
It is always tempting to have a foil to blame for fiscal incompetence. Johnson knows that voter anger focused on Trump and those uncaring Republicans help him escape accountability. This is right out of the Democratic playbook — deflect, distract and blame someone else for our problems. An October poll of 812 registered voters in Chicago, conducted by the Democratic polling firm Change Research for One Future Illinois, found that 31% approve of the job Johnson is doing; that is up from 26% over the summer. His proposed tax increases, however, remain very unpopular.
Johnson’s team has tied the deficit in Chicago to the president, the Tribune reported. One flyer posted on X by the mayor’s office contains the caption “Closing the Trump Deficit through Progressive Revenue.” The Tribune found that there is only one “substantial” city grant, for $36 million, that has been frozen.
The debt in Chicago is the cumulative result of bad fiscal decisions by Democratic mayors. For example, raiding tax increment financing districts to balance budgets is a bad idea. TIF money is a one-time short-term fix — but the structural problem remains. As a candidate, Johnson criticized the way TIF funding was being used to close budget gaps and promised reform. Instead, he has fallen into the same pattern as previous mayors.
At a time when downtown’s business district is struggling with high vacancies and companies are laying people off, Johnson has proposed a $21-per-person corporate head tax. The following companies just announced major layoffs:
- Amazon: 14,000 jobs.
- UPS: 48,000 jobs.
- Target: 1,800 corporate jobs.
- Intel: 24,000 jobs.
- Microsoft: 9,000 jobs.
- Ford Motor Co.: Plans to cut up to 13,000 jobs.
A head tax is a job killer. Johnson should be proposing tax incentives to attract businesses — not penalizing companies for creating jobs. Chicagoans need more jobs and economic development. In some wards on the South and West sides, residents face extreme levels of joblessness that rival those of the Great Depression. More employees translates to increased revenue to the city and the stabilization of communities.
Johnson’s budget allocates money from the head tax to cover public safety. Is this the same mayor who told Trump that we do not have a serious crime problem in Chicago?
A recent WalletHub survey undercuts that assertion. It notes that Chicago ranked 161st in overall safety out of 182 cities. Several cities ranked higher than Chicago — New York City (117th) and Los Angeles (156th). The city of Aurora ranked 33rd.
Johnson of all people should understand when you saddle residents with fines, fees and regressive taxes, it creates more problems. As a candidate, the mayor owed the city $3,357 in water and sewer bill costs and $400 for unpaid traffic tickets. He went on a payment plan to pay off his water bill, although he was making over six figures a year as a Cook County commissioner and legislative coordinator for the Chicago Teachers Union. If Johnson could not afford to pay his debts, how can Chicago residents afford the proposed new taxes in his budget? The citizens of Chicago are already paying more for groceries, gas, rents, utilities and health care.
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The following are some suggestions to balance the city’s budget:
- The mayor should cut costs, including through elimination of jobs in city government that are duplicative.
- He should work with unions to restructure overly generous union contracts.
- He should use his influence in Springfield to fix pension costs.
- He should reduce taxes on corporations and make the city a desirable place to do business.
- He should stop borrowing to cover the budget shortfall because he is mortgaging the future.
- Johnson and members of the City Council should return a portion of their salaries to the city treasury.
The Civic Federation has been warning the mayor and his predecessors about unsustainable debt from pensions, generous union contracts and a bloated bureaucracy for years.
Aldermen need to protect taxpayers from Johnson and his allies who will drive people out of the city with their plans to raise revenue. The mayor created this chaos, and now he wants to shift the blame to the president — after providing his former union boss Stacy Davis Gates and the CTU with an unaffordable contract at taxpayer expense. That is the height of hypocrisy.
I write this commentary to make those comfortable with using Trump as a foil for their failed policies uncomfortable.
Willie Wilson is a business owner, philanthropist and former mayoral candidate.
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