CHICAGO (AP) – Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says her proposal to close the city’s $838 million budget deficit doesn’t rely on large property tax increases but will require significant moves by state lawmakers in Springfield.
Lightfoot delivered her first budget address Wednesday before the City Council, five months after taking office.
She says the city will ask state lawmakers this fall to alter the city’s tax system on sales of high-end property and the tax structure for a casino within city limits as part of a broader package to close the budget gap.
Without those changes, Lightfoot says city officials will have to make “painful choices” to grow revenue.
Lightfoot’s plan also includes refinancing the city’s debt and adding a tax on solo rides in or out of the city’s downtown via ride-hailing companies.
