Politics

Chicago Faces $882M Budget Gap in 2027, as Johnson Touts Smaller Than Expected Election Year Shortfall

Mayor Brandon Johnson said Thursday Chicago faces a projected $882.4 million budget shortfall in the 2027 fiscal year, a smaller than expected gap during an election year.

That is more than 23% smaller than the $1.15 billion deficit that confronted city officials a year ago. Debate over how to fill that gap led to an intense confrontation between the mayor and a majority of the Chicago City Council, which approved a spending plan opposed by Johnson.

For more than a decade, Chicago’s intractable financial woes have eased just months before the mayor and all 50 alderpeople faced the city’s voters, giving everyone just a bit more breathing room as they campaign for new four-year terms.

But Johnson told reporters the coming months will nevertheless be difficult.

“We have difficult and consequential decisions ahead of us as we work to address the structural financial challenges that have confronted Chicago for decades,” Johnson said.

Pressed by reporters, Johnson declined to rule out proposing a property tax hike to help close the deficit but said he would once again focus his efforts on raising what he calls “progressive” revenue to fill the city’s projected budget gap by taxing large firms and the city’s wealthiest residents.

“We will not balance this budget on the backs of working people,” Johnson said. 

The mayor, who must detail his proposal to close the projected gaps in the city’s 2027 budget by mid-October, also declined to rule out once again asking the City Council to levy a per employee tax on large companies. That proposal was rejected by the City Council during last year’s tense budget debate.

Johnson announced earlier this month he will refinance a chunk of the city’s massive debt to fill a budget gap of $85.1 million in the 2026 budget after a plan embraced by a majority of the City Council over Johnson’s objections to sell $1 billion in debt owed to the city by individuals failed to generate any revenue, much less the $89.6 million the spending plan relied on.

Johnson, who neither signed nor vetoed the city’s $16.6 billion 2026 spending plan, allowing it to take effect, has repeatedly blamed alderperople he said chose to align themselves with corporations over the people of Chicago for worsening the city’s financial condition.

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

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