Far NW Side aldermen oppose proposed $300 million property tax hike

by BRIAN NADIG

Far Northwest Side aldermen are opposing the proposed $300 million property tax hike floated in the next city budget by Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Nick Sposato (38th), Samantha Nugent (39th), Anthony Napolitano (41st) and James Gardiner (45th) have expressed opposition to the proposed tax increase, and it appears that the City Council may kill the proposal at a special meeting called for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13.

"I would guess that 40-plus (of the 50 alderpersons) are against the property tax increase," Sposato said this week. He added that some of the mayor’s allies oppose the hike.

Napolitano said that he is usually on an "island of 7 to 13" alderpersons opposing controversial proposals from the mayor but that most council members are eager to call for the special meeting. He added that perhaps the presidential election results, where Donald Trump won the 41st Ward and performed overall better in Chicago and Illinois compared to 2016 and 2020, will bring a greater focus on fiscal responsibility.

Napolitano said that the city is looking at a bigger deficit in 2026 than in 2025.

"Thank you to each of my City Council colleagues who are willing to do everything possible to fight against Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $300 million property tax increase," Gardiner said.

Gardiner said months ago that Johnson’s administration would seek tax increases in 2025 and 2026 but not in 2027 because that is an election year.

Area Alderman Nugent issued the following statement:

"First, I do not support the $300 million property tax increase Mayor Johnson and his team have proposed. We cannot rely on taxes to fill the $1 billion gap. It is not fair to Chicagoans.

"We should be looking for revenue replacement options wherever we can. We are rapidly approaching the deadline to obligate American Rescue Plan Act funds that were granted to the city of Chicago during the COVID-19 pandemic. While we still have the ability to obligate and ex pend those funds, it is our duty to explore the best use of those funds – not the most expedient or easiest. Over $200 million of ARPA funding remains unspent today.”

Nugent added, "Unspent funds should be obligated, as applicable, as revenue replacement by the December 31, 2024 deadline. Instead of continuing to fund new programs and new positions with ARPA funds, we should instead use it for its intended purpose – to avoid placing the impacts of lost and declining revenue due to COVID on the backs of working Chicagoans."

Meanwhile, the Chicago Board of Education may approve its own property hike for next year. The school system is a separate taxing body from the city of Chicago.

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