“We don’t have a spending problem, we have a revenue problem,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said Wednesday. “That’s why my budget is going to challenge the ultra-rich to pay their fair share in taxes.”

The report offers “89 preliminary options to improve operations, generate new revenue, and pursue strategic opportunities, all while preserving city services” that could add between $1 billion and $2.1 billion to the city’s bottom line.

“Chicagoans deserve the truth about the fiscal conditions of our city,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “Our economy does remain resilient, but fiscal discipline is certainly required in this moment.”

The bill is designed to make sure that Chicago police officers and firefighters earn pension benefits at the same level as downstate first responders.

A city analysis warned the bill “would increase the city’s pension liabilities by more than $11 billion” in the two funds that pay pensions to retired police officers and firefighters.

“It’s on the table,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday at a City Hall news conference. “Everything has to be on the table. Everything has to be on the table.”

“I will not be proposing a property tax increase in my budget,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said Thursday. “I’m going to continue to work hard to find progressive revenue so that we can continue to make critical investments in transforming our city.”

The new database launched after WTTW News reported the city spent $510.9 million on employee overtime in 2024 — 1.5% less than in 2023, with more than half of the total amount used to compensate Chicago Police Department officers for working extra hours.

The rare rejection by the Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee means the proposal will not advance to the full City Council for a final vote. Its sponsor said the measure would give 17 members of the City Council the power to stop Johnson from burdening future generations with massive debt obligations.

“No, it’s not acceptable,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “No one is going to agree that the overspending in this moment is something that we should accept or be OK with.”

The Chicago Police Department exceeded its nearly $2 billion budget, approved by the Chicago City Council, by $207 million, according to city data.

Chicago officials held the first of four “budget engagement roundtables” designed to gather feedback about the city’s 2026 budget.

Despite Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s trademark optimism, the unrelenting turmoil of the past two years, and his missteps in handling problems both new and old, has weakened his political standing, ensuring that if he runs for and wins a second term in office in 2027, he will have to do it the same way he won the first time: as an underdog.

Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday sounded the alarm about the financial crisis facing the city, warning that Chicago “will have to do more with less” as President Donald Trump threatens to upend its finances and officials confront the results of decades of financial mismanagement.

The measure passed by the narrowest possible margin with the support of the entire Progressive Caucus and all but four members of the Black Caucus.

The Chicago City Council is set to vote on the proposal Wednesday, after a week-long delay fueled by outrage whipped up on social media, the budding 2027 race for mayor and the lack of trust many alderpeople have in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s ability to steer the city through rough financial seas.