Mayor Brandon Johnson on Thursday pushed back on criticism that his Chicago police budget plan endangers the department’s compliance with the federal consent decree, despite dire warnings from

The Chicago City Council on Thursday rejected Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to raise property taxes by $300 million that would have helped close a budget gap of nearly $1 billion for next year.

The Chicago City Council on Thursday unanimously rejected Mayor Brandon Johnson's proposed $300 million property tax hike, forcing the mayor and his budget team to go back to the drawing board to balance the city budget for 2025.

In a special meeting, Chicago's City Council voted unanimously to remove the mayor's proposed $300 million property tax increase from the 2025 budget plan. Why it matters: The removal of the tax hike will force Mayor Brandon Johnson to make hard decisions on other ways to generate more revenue or where to make cuts to city services.

The overwhelming vote was largely symbolic. Negotiations aimed at reducing or eliminating the property tax increase and replacing it with a healthy mix of new revenues and reprogrammed federal pandemic relief funds began last weekend.

The City Council will take a vote Thursday on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed $300 million property tax hike, announced when he unveiled his $17.3 billion city budget for 2025 last month. That means the mayor could make it official that he’s essentially giving up on his proposed property tax hike for city residents,

Chicago City Council members unanimously voted against Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed $300 million property tax increase, which was included in his first budget proposal for next year.