Welcome to Newswire — your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what action we can take to make our city great, featuring public meeting coverage by City Bureau’s Documenters.
Quote/Term of the Week
Cloud computing / noun
The on-demand availability of computing resources (storage or resources), as services over the internet.
Ex: Google Drive, Microsoft Team and Dropbox all use cloud computing.
I want a budget for Christmas
After a drawn out stalemate, the City Council Committee on Finance passed a revenue plan for 2026 by a 22-13 vote. The plan comes after prolonged debate which resulted in alders rejecting Mayor Brandon Johnson’s original revenue proposal last month.
The approved revenue package includes wins and losses for both Johnson and alders opposing him. The plan still excludes the controversial corporate head tax Johnson has pushed for, but it also shelves an increase in garbage collection fees and youth job freeze that alders proposed.
However, the revenue plan features a myriad of controversial items including an increased liquor tax and video gambling license, as well as a property tax increase to avoid a critical funding cut for the Chicago Public Library.
The plan also proposed an additional $10 million for gender-based violence reduction programs. Johnson’s original proposal included a 43% decrease in funding, even as domestic and gender-based violence cases increase. He later reversed himself, pledging to take $9 million from the city’s main fund for those services.
Notably, both budget proposals looked to borrow $283.3 million to account for the cost of Chicago police misconduct lawsuits, which have cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
Johnson was not swayed and slammed the revenue plan for leaning on fines and debt collection targeting “everyday” and “poor and working Chicagoans.” One prong of the plan would generate $89 million by collecting outstanding fees and fines from the city’s ambulances, utility bills, red-light cameras and more, according to WTTW.
The Budget Committee later approved the budget's spending plan by a 21 to 13 vote, sending the revised $16.6 billion plan to City Council and increasing the possibility of passing a budget by Christmas. City Council is scheduled to meet almost daily until Dec. 24 to meet its Dec. 31 budget deadline.
A #ChiBudgetSzn🤑 Breakdown: Revenue plan edition
The ultimate money maker, which was included in both revenue proposals, is an increase of the cloud tax from 11% to 15%, something critics say would hurt local businesses.
The tax, which applies to software licenses, cloud services (such as Google Drive or Microsoft Teams) and other digital goods, is expected to generate $415.2 million.
Johnson has promoted the increase as a tax hike for “big tech.” Along with the corporate head tax, it is in line with his desire to get larger companies to pay more and lessen the burden on working-class Chicagoans.
City Council would not be able to increase the tax further before Sept. 1, 2028. However, alders could vote to overturn that provision anytime.
In an unpopular move, the Committee on Finance advanced a proposal by a 23-6 vote to increase property taxes. The increase would generate $9.1 million for the Chicago Public Library, which is at risk of cutting 69 positions next year. But Johnson is notoriously against increasing property taxes and has vowed to veto any plan that includes such a hike.
The approved revenue plan includes a total of $473 million in new and/or increased taxes and fees, here’s run down on other notable items:
Grocery bag tax: Increased from 10 cents to 15 cents, which is expected to generate up to $8.7 million.
Liquor tax: Increased by 1.5% and expected to generate $6 million, the tax will apply to off-premise liquor sales, or sales of packaged alcohol that is bought and then consumed elsewhere. The original proposal of a 3% increase was lowered after pushback from hospitality industry leaders. That provision would likely be challenged and even struck down in courts, according to city leaders.
Video gambling license: The plan looks to generate $6.8 million by legalizing video poker and slot machines in every Chicago bar or restaurant with a liquor license. However, the city may not actually reap the benefits of this revenue source in 2026, considering businesses will need to apply for a state gaming license, which on average takes six to eight months to be approved.
Downtown congestion fee: Alders opted to expand the Downtown congestion fee zone, in turn generating an expected $39.4 million via the congestion surcharge applied to all Uber and Lyft rides.
Advertising fee: The fee would generate around $29.3 in revenue from advertisements on city property including light poles and vehicles, such as street sweepers and snowplows (police and fire vehicles would be exempt).
Augmented reality advertising license: The license would allow companies to place content on city property that can only be seen via smartphone or virtual reality glasses (think Pokemon Go). Alders say it could generate $6 million, but city leaders have said that proposal won’t work and the proposed revenue isn’t realistic.
What you can do:
Have thoughts about the 2026 proposed budget? Click here to find your ward and contact your alder.
Follow along with Chicago Documenters this #BudgetSzn🤑. We’re covering every budget meeting leading up to City Council finalizing the spending plan at the end of the year. Follow our work at docs.org, Twitter.com and Bluesky.
A version of this story was first published in the December 18, 2025 issue of the Newswire, an email newsletter that is your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what we can do to make our city great. You can sign up for the weekly newsletter here.
Have thoughts on what you'd like to see in this feature? Email Civic Editor Dawn Rhodes at dawn@citybureau.org.