Budget Update: December 11, 2024
Leni with Laura from Access Living and Kyle from Better Streets Chicago riding the Red Line back to the 48th ward after budget hearings.
On Tuesday, December 10 the proposed budget passed through the Finance Committee (by two votes) and the Budget Committee (by one vote). On Friday, the proposed budget will go before the full City Council for approval, and it’s expected to be close.
There are a lot of conversations that need to happen before we take the vote on Friday. Our city’s budget is a moral document, and we have a responsibility to both increase revenue and find efficiencies to close the $1 billion budget gap and improve the quality of life for all Chicagoans. I believe that our government must be transparent and responsive to the people while protecting both union jobs and public assets/services. We must also act by the end of the year to avoid an unprecedented government shut-down.
The current budget proposal avoids cuts to city services while decreasing departmental spending by 3% and maintaining union jobs. It includes a $68.5m property tax increase. This would mean an increase of less than $40/year for the majority of 48th ward home owners. This property tax proposal is down from a $300m increase, which I voted against in City Council, and a $150m increase that was also rejected by City Council.
Other revenue generating components of the budget include $128m from an increased cloud computing tax increase from 9% to 11%, and nearly $20m from parking garage and weekend ride share tax increases. The biggest source of new revenue in this budget will be paid by a small handful of big corporations like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon that lease cloud storage for their data.
Despite the $1 billion deficit, the budget proposal expands important programs like non-police crisis-response CARE teams who handle mental health emergencies. We’re also funding the two new mental health clinics that reopened late this year. In City Council, we rejected cuts that would have made it difficult to implement the consent decree for reform of the police department.
As we work on the budget for 2025, we’re simultaneously working to improve the budget process in years to come. On Monday, the Management Ordinance passed through committee, in an important step towards budget transparency and accountability. This ordinance makes various changes to the City’s budget process, reporting, and functions of the Council Office of Financial Analysis (COFA). As a proud co-sponsor, this ordinance will allow for more informed budget decisions in years to come.
The budget process has not been easy, but I believe that through diligent work we have shaped a better budget that is true to our values and makes important progress towards our goals.
Yours in community,
Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth
48th Ward Alderwoman
See previous week’s budget update here.