Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to refinance a chunk of the city’s massive debt to fill a budget gap of $85.1 million generated just half of what he and his top financial advisers promised Chicagoans, records show.
Johnson, who neither signed nor vetoed the city’s 2026 $16.6 billion budget approved by the Chicago City Council, blamed the shortfall in this year’s budget on the decision by his critics to rely on revenue that failed to materialize.
Initially, Johnson said the city would refinance bonds backed by the city’s sales tax revenues that are at least 10 years old to generate between $65 million and $71 million…