The budget committee will kick off budget hearings on at 10 a.m. in council chambers when it welcomes the Chicago Office of Budget and Management and the rest of the mayor’s budget and finance team, including the Department of Finance and Office of the Chief Financial Officer, for an overview of the mayor’s proposal to close a projected $882.4 million budget gap for 2027. 

As is typical, the heads of all three of the finance and budget offices will appear simultaneously for the hearing with alderpeople. 

Last week, the mayor laid out his plan to drum up hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue to address the looming shortfall, with solutions including hikes to the liquor tax for off-premise consumption, sports betting tax and personal property lease transaction tax, a new tax on package waste and another attempt to reinstitute a corporate head tax after the proposal was nixed last year. 

Related: Mayor introduces $17.6B budget plan for 2027, including second attempt to revive corporate head tax 

Alderpeople will be able to ask about the mayor’s myriad revenue proposals. 

The revenue plan unveiled last week would increase the city’s sports wagering tax from 10.25 to 20 percent to bring in an additional $37 million; increase the personal property lease transaction tax (PPLT) from 15 to 20 percent to bring in an additional $234 million; create a new $0.15 tax on each non-medical and non-food container or package to bring in $9 million and spur the reduction of package waste; and hike the restructured liquor tax for off-premise consumption — which was changed from a volumetric tax to a 1.5 percent sales tax this year — to three percent, which would bring in an additional $13.8 million.  

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposal also includes the Equitable Employer Tax, which would charge Chicago firms with 125 or more employees working in the city 25 cents per employee per month. The businesses could avoid the tax or receive credits for employees located in designated zones on the South and West sides.  

The tax is estimated to bring in nearly $102 million, but it is already a non-starter for many on the council. At the same time, Johnson has argued that most Chicagoans support taxing corporations and that they can afford the hit given the breaks they’ve received under the second Trump administration.

The committee is also expected to seek answers on the city’s tax increment financing surplus, with some alderpeople expressing concern last week about the possibility of projects being cut to enable the surplus declaration.

Alderpeople will also have a chance to probe the finance and budget team on the mayor’s intention to seek $480 million in borrowing authority to help cover the extraordinary cost of settling police misconduct cases and other judgments, including the $260 million Reynaldo Guevara-related global settlement.

“The City estimates that the global settlements accounted for in the 2027 budget will save the City between $300 and $400 million relative to litigation that could go on for years and has previously resulted in higher judgements and outside counsel costs,” Chief Financial Officer Ashlee Gabrysch said in a statement last week. “The City plans to issue the bonds over a short duration with level debt service to spread out the extraordinary costs from legacy police misconduct in the most fiscally responsible way possible.” 

The beginning of budget hearings follows a lengthy hearing on Friday on the city's progress implementing savings and efficiencies recommended by the consulting firm Ernst and Young, which is under contract to assist the city with finding opportunities to reduce its structural gap.