Mayor Brandon Johnson spoke with CBS News Chicago Monday morning to defend his 2026 budget proposal, which aims to close a fiscal hole of more than $1 billion.
The proposal notably does not raise property taxes, but instead relies on a combination of tax increment finance, or TIF, funding and new taxes focused on the ultra-wealthy and largest corporations.
The budget is proposes using $1 billion in TIF funds to balance the budget, including $500 million earmarked for Chicago Public Schools. Some budget analysts outside City Hall, like Joe Ferguson of the Civic Federation called it poor fiscal process…