Business

Breach Between Johnson, Business Leaders Widens Amid Renewed Focus on Tax Hike Push

Leaders of Chicago’s business community pushed back Tuesday after Mayor Brandon Johnson accused them of working to defeat a measure to give the Chicago City Council the power to hike real estate transfer taxes to benefit “corporations” and the “ultra rich” at the expense of working people in Chicago.

The renewed tension between Johnson, launched into office by Chicago’s progressive movement, and the city’s business leaders comes after the mayor endured a bruising battle over the city’s 2025 budget. He is under intense pressure from President Donald Trump, who has promised to strip the city of federal funding unless officials help agents deport undocumented immigrants.

Johnson appeared to open a new battlefront Monday evening at a town hall about the state of Chicago hosted by WTTW and community organization My Block, My Hood, My City. Johnson announced he would try again to convince Chicago voters to give the City Council the power to hike real estate transfer taxes on the sales of properties worth $1 million or more to fight homelessness.

“At the point of which we go for this revenue again, let’s not allow the interests of the corporations as well as the ultra rich to dictate what working people deserve in this city,” Johnson said Monday evening. “We have to pass Bring Chicago Home.”

Johnson accused the opponents of Bring Chicago Home of capitalizing on the divisions exposed by the migrant crisis, which strained the city’s social safety net, worsened the city’s financial condition and exacerbated tension between Chicago’s Black and Latino communities.

“They used the migrant crisis to undermine the interests of working people,” Johnson said.

After a fierce campaign, 53% of voters rejected the ballot measure that could have generated approximately $100 million annually by hiking taxes on real estate sales of more than $1 million. Nearly 94% of all properties sold in Chicago have a final purchase price of less than $1 million, officials said.

Farzin Parang, the executive director of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago, said he was baffled by the mayor’s remarks.

“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Parang said. “It is not based on facts.”

Just like all 50 members of the Chicago City Council rejected a $300 million property tax hike in November, a majority of Chicago voters rejected the proposal to hike the real estate transfer tax, which amounted to a “backdoor property tax hike,” Parang and other business leaders said.

“It has been a consistent message,” Parang said. “Rather than name-calling and making excuses, the mayor should convene a real effort to address homelessness. Name-calling is not doing the work.”

None of the advertisements against Bring Chicago Home focused on the migrant crisis; they instead accused Johnson of wanting to raise taxes without having a clear plan on how to spend the money and how to ensure it was spent as promised.

Greg Goldner, a political consultant who led the campaign to defeat Bring Chicago Home, said the migrant crisis did not factor into the defeat of the measure — but has helped push Johnson’s approval ratings to “historic lows.”

“This mayor routinely pits Chicagoans against Chicagoans,” Goldner said. “We made the case this is the wrong policy for the city.”

Jack Lavin, the CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, called the mayor’s remarks unfair.

“Voters defeated the transfer tax,” Lavin said. “They didn’t trust the administration.”

At his weekly news conference Tuesday morning, Johnson said he had a responsibility to call it like he sees it.

“If people take the exception to the things that I say, this is not personal towards these individuals,” Johnson said. “We have to tell the truth. I have a moral responsibility to tell people the truth about what’s available and what’s keeping us from having access to what’s available. I’m going to stand up for working people in this city once and for all.”

If leaders of Chicago’s business community want to join in an effort to make Chicago a better place to live, Johnson said, he would welcome the help.

“They can reach me,” Johnson said. “They know my number.”

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]

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