Mayor Brandon Johnson’s picks, which include a mix of well-known community activists and candidates who lost their bids to win a seat on the board, will join the 10 people who won in November.

The budget passed 27-23, with just 18 days to spare, averting an unprecedented shutdown of city government.

The spending plan still calls for a host of other taxes and fees to rise by an additional $165.5 million, including increases in the taxes levied on software licenses, cloud services and other digital goods as well as subscriptions to streaming and cable television services.

The mayor’s decision to delay the budget vote is an acknowledgment that the spending plan that would hike property taxes by $68.5 million and increase a host of other taxes and fees by an additional $165.5 million does not have enough votes to pass the Chicago City Council.

Sean Harden — who previously worked as Chicago Public Schools’ deputy CEO of community affairs and as an executive assistant to former Mayor Richard M. Daley — took his oath of office and was sworn in as the board’s seventh member Thursday.

Two key Chicago City Council committees voted Tuesday to send Johnson’s $17.3 billion spending plan for 2025 to the full City Council for a final vote. The two-step process is set to start Wednesday, with a final vote scheduled for Friday.

“The level of compliance is unsatisfying to the public,” U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer said. “I am determined that we will be seeing good progress ... in 2025. Let’s accelerate the progress.”

“A budget that would lay off workers and cut services is just, you know, one that should not be tolerated by any Chicagoan,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

After an unrelated news conference, Mayor Brandon Johnson declined to say whether he still had confidence in Jason Lee, but praised his track record of helping progressive politicians get elected.

The new plan comes after the Chicago City Council rejected Johnson’s first two proposals to raise property taxes in order to avoid draconian cuts to city services and thousands of layoffs.

Joseph “JoJo” Mapp promised to serve as a “bridge” between community organizations working to help those returning to Chicago from jail or prison and the city.

“I get the noise around my administration,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “I’m doing it differently, and I know it feels a certain way, but I’m doing it better. I am. We’ll have a balanced budget that invests in people.”

As City Council members return to City Hall on Monday to wrap up budget hearings after a weeklong Thanksgiving break, there is no clear path to a deal with just 29 days left before the deadline to avoid an unprecedented shutdown of city government.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said he will ask the Chicago City Council to restore 162 now-vacant positions to the Chicago Police Department charged with implementing the court order known as the consent decree. Johnson reversed course after Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the team monitoring the city’s compliance with the consent decree warned the cuts would make it impossible for the city to comply with the requirements. 

CPS Chief Education Officer Bogdana Chkoumbova, the district’s second highest ranking leader, told reporters Thursday that the two sides remain “significantly” far apart at a time when CPS is facing a financial crisis.

If the mayor’s spending plan is approved by the City Council, 79 vacant positions charged with implementing the court order known as the consent decree would be eliminated, records show. Those cuts will make it impossible for the city to comply with the requirements of the court order, reform advocates said.