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 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 Chicago City Council emphatically voted down Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to hike property taxes by $300 million Thursday, creating a yawning hole in the city’s 2025 budget that must now be closed.

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,

The mayor and council members are now negotiating hikes to taxes and fees on alcohol, streaming services and garbage collection, among others.

Mayor Brandon Johnson is all but giving up on his proposed $300 million property tax hike before aldermen kill it, and pushing them to find other revenue in its place to avert layoffs. Johnson’s administration is combing over alternatives to the tax jump ahead of a meeting Wednesday where the City Council is expected to vote it down.

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.

Dozens of Chicago alderpeople are expected to attend a special city council meeting on Thursday. They're expected to vote down Mayor Brandon Johnson's $300 million property tax hike proposal. Mayor Brandon Johnson wouldn't commit on Tuesday when asked if he would support possible alternatives to his proposal to raise property taxes to close a nearly $1 billion budget gap 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.