Chicago’s Budget Deficit Balloons to Nearly $1 Billion in 2025

  • City must also close a $223 million gap this fiscal year
  • Mayor Brandon Johnson says pension, migrant costs led to gap
Brandon Johnson, mayor of Chicago, during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, US, on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced that city’s deficit for 2025 will be close to $1 billion because of higher pension and labor costs. The city will need to fill an unexpected shortfall in this year’s budget as well.

The third-largest US city must close a shortfall of $982.4 million in its main operating account — known as the corporate fund — for next year, according to a budget briefing. That estimate includes the cost of migrant services and revenue declines from a levy placed on corporations known as a replacement tax.