Johnson accuses critics of 'tantrums,' says it's time they 'grow up'

Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday accused City Council members who engineered the 50-0 vote shooting down his proposed $300 million property tax increase of “having tantrums” and said it’s time for his critics to “grow up.”

Johnson said the unanimous vote was an “additional step” created by a “small group of individuals” that blew a giant hole in his $17.3 billion spending plan and only managed to drag an already delayed budget process well into December.

“This additional step that they created — they’re ultimately gonna have to come back and do … their job — which is to help us find a pathway to make sure that these critical investments and services do not go away,” a clearly exasperated mayor said Tuesday at his weekly news conference,

“Some of the steps and measures that are being taken — these are some individuals that are having tantrums right now. It’s time to grow up. The people of Chicago don’t have time for that,” he said.

Johnson confirmed he already has cut the property tax increase in half — to $150 million — and won't stop there. Nor is he claiming he has lined up the 26 votes needed to pass the smaller increase. He's still negotiating after reaching out to all Council members, he said.

“If there’s an alder that has not gotten back with us yet, they do have some responsibility to show up to this engagement. This is not a one-way street. It’s a two-way street," the mayor said.

“This is still a proposal. It’s ongoing conversation, and we’ll continue to have those with individuals who decide they want to show up for it,” he said.

Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) led the charge for last week’s special meeting, where an already emboldened Council essentially wrested control of the budget process away from the chief executive.

Beale bristled at the mayor’s "tantrum" remark.

“When you get into name-calling, that means you’ve already lost,” Beale said.

“We’re trying to protect taxpayers. We’re trying to cut spending and be fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars, and all he wants to do is create more avenues to spend and nickel and dime the people of Chicago. … That’s why we’re having to step up to save this city from this train wreck in progress,” he said.

As for Johnson reaching out to all 50 alderpersons, Beale said: "They have not reached out to me. I don’t care what they say."

"What took place last week was not a tantrum," said Ald. Marty Quinn (13th). "It was being responsive to what Chicago wants."

Quinn added that while Johnson "went to Chicago first and said, 'We need more money,' I believe Chicagoans want us to look at redundancies, vacancies and reforms. Then, we can talk about more money."

Earlier this week, the Sun-Times reported Johnson's administration had cut his proposed tax hike in half while continuing to negotiate.

The largest chunk of new revenue — $128 million — will come from raising the personal property lease tax on cloud computing to 11 percent.

Another $14 million would be squeezed out of “redundancies and efficiencies” in administrative costs tied to federal pandemic relief programs. And the final $10 million would be generated by raising the tax on streaming services from 9% to 10.25%. Johnson refused to say what impact that would have, on say, the average monthly subscription to Netflix.

Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), co-chair of a Progressive Caucus that Johnson needs to get his budget over the finish line, had scoffed on Monday at the notion that a compromise was in the works.

He accused the Johnson administration of political posturing in an attempt to make it appear the mayor has regained control of the budget process.

Even Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd), Johnson’s handpicked Finance Committee chair, has demanded that Johnson “go deeper” on the cost-cutting front.

On Tuesday, the mayor was asked whether he could “go along” with a budget that holds the line on property taxes, as he promised he would do during the mayoral campaign.

“Clearly, because I did it last year,” Johnson said. “You’re asking a question about whether or not I can do something when I’ve proven that I can actually do something.”

Having said that, Johnson retraced the line he has drawn in the sand.

His budget must continue making “investments in people,” he said. It must confront the city’s structural deficit and leave intact the $272 million in advance pension payments over and above state-mandated contributions. And it must avoid cutting services by laying off city employees or mandating unpaid furlough days.