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The 2027 city budget

The City Council has until the end of the year to pass a 2027 budget that closes an $882 million gap.

Deadline: · checked Nov. 12, 2026

$882Mgap in the $17.6 billion 2027 budget, between what the city expects to collect and to spend
26 votesneeded in the City Council to pass a budget
28alderpeople signed a letter on Nov. 10 calling the Mayor’s plan a “non-starter”

Who decides

The Mayor proposes the budget and the City Council passes it. It takes 26 of the 50 alderpeople’s votes.

The Mayor’s plan

  • A new tax on big employers: $25 a month per worker at companies with 125 or more full-time workers, about $114 million a year
  • Raise the tax on leased equipment and cloud software from 15% to 20%, about $234 million a year
  • Put $75 million from the parking meter deal toward 2027 pension payments
  • Savings, one-time money and other fees for the rest (each one is in the budget simulator)

What the 28 alderpeople wrote

  • No more than $300 million in new or higher taxes
  • No head tax and no lease tax increase (the lease tax went from 11% to 15% in the 2026 budget)
  • Collect more of the money people and businesses already owe the city
  • Close less of the gap with one-time money and borrowing (the plan counts on $480 million in police settlement borrowing)
  • The Council voted 44–6 to spend the $75 million on an extra pension payment this year instead

The dates

  1. OctoberThe Mayor sends his 2027 budget to the City Council
  2. Nov. 10Department hearings end; 28 alderpeople send their letter; the Mayor writes back that he is open to changing the lease tax increase
  3. Dec. 8–9Next full City Council meetings (a final vote may come later)
  4. Dec. 31Deadline to pass a 2027 budget. Last year’s passed on Dec. 20

How to weigh in

Email your alderperson ›Find your ward, how to reach its office and the Council meetings coming upTry closing the gap yourself ›Every tax, cut and one-time option, with what it costs youFollow the news ›Headlines on the budget from Chicago outlets, updated every few hours

The gap, the head tax figure and the $17.6 billion total are from the city’s 2027 Budget Overview; CBS Chicago reported a newer Mayor’s office estimate of about $101 million for the head tax. The lease tax figure is the Mayor’s $46.8 million per point, as in the budget simulator.

Sources: CBS Chicago, Nov. 11, 2026 · ABC7 Chicago, Nov. 10, 2026 · Chicago Sun-Times, Nov. 10, 2026 · City of Chicago, 2027 Budget Overview · FOX 32, Sept. 28, 2026