Mayor Johnson you are sitting on the money you want
Taxes increases should definitely be off the table
When Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson was presenting his bona fides to Chicagoans in an attempt to explain why he should be the city’s next mayor he was prone to say his time on the county board prepared him for the job. Someone who really cared about Johnson should have quietly explained to him ‘no it didn’t.’ We are witnessing that during now-Mayor Johnson’s first week in office.
He has rolled out an ambitious plan to tax things that fly - a new jet fuel tax; tax things that leave the city-suburban residents working here, as well as buildings that some people want to sell. It is all an attempt to raise $800 million to underwrite his proposed social service initiative he hopes will quell violence and put some disadvantaged youth to work in decent-paying jobs.
Supporters and detractors have labeled the mayor a progressive. Frankly, the word has been tossed around so much its original definition is quite murky. If Johnson has to wear a tag as mayor the best one probably is pragmatist. This is one that won’t further alienate the business community or the rank-and-file of the Chicago Poice Department (CPD)
Before Johnson continues down this path that Gov. JB Pritzker and much of the business community-folks who understsand budgets told him is futile; the mayor should look internally for the money. He will likely be surprised to learn it is there in the city’s budget.
It is a shocker if the mayor doesn’t know this. In government circles there is a strategy that is akin to a game when it comes to the budget. In the last two or three months leading up to the end of the fiscal year departments and divisions within government begin to make purchases and enter into contracts to assure they use every cent, or nearly every cent of their respective budgets.
The rationale here is if they don’t spend it all, in the following fiscal year their budgets will be cut by the amount amount they returned to the general fund. It might be the biggest open secret in government.
Not only can Johnson nip this practice, he can find the $800 million he wants to pin on taxpayers. He can do this issuing an exceutive order that every department must cut its budget by 10 percent. The City of Chicago’s overall budget is in the neighborhood of $16.7 billion. A 10 percent reduction would generate approximately $1.67 billion or about double the amount the Johnson tax plan pushing. Those dollars go back into the general fund. A 10 percent cut won’t result in any jobs being lost.
Yes, there will be some push back from some departments - CPD immediately comes to mind. Given the department is without a permanent leader Johnson will need to reinforce he is in charge and this is an act that will benefit everyone in the long run.
The upside for the departments could be those that return 11 percent or more will have their allocations bumped beyond the current numbers in FY 24-25. By issuing an executive order, Johnson doesn’t need the OK of the city council.
It is imperative that Johnson and everyone else wearing the progressive tag realize and admit that Chicago taxpayers are already feeling the pain of past budget gaffes and Band-Aid fixes such as the shopping bag surcharge. The 10 percent cut only won’t cripple city departments, it will allow municipal workers to continue to draw paychecks in their current amounts. There is no downside to such a spending reduction.