Mayor Brandon Johnson faces city grocery tax pushback as state levy expires

Chicago Tribune

7 hours ago

Mayor Brandon Johnson faced stiff criticism from a City Council opponent Wednesday as he introduced an ordinance to implement a grocery tax at the city level.
Johnson's administration has argued the 1% city grocery tax is necessary as a state grocery tax that sent revenue to municipalities ends. But Ald. Brendan Reilly accused Johnson of sneaking the ordinance's introduction during a meeting to avoid legislative pushback, in what he characterized as a violation of the Open Meetings Act.
'They intentionally are leaving the public in the dark,' Reilly told reporters later. 'It is obvious the mayor is not proud of this ordinance because he tried to sneak it in without anyone understanding what it would actually do.'
Moments after the measure was introduced — the first step in a typically months-long legislative process that includes committee discussion, full City Council votes and often opposition delay tactics — Reilly accused Johnson of hiding the measure with an inaccurate description. Reilly called the introduction 'a cute trick' by Johnson's Law Department.
The two debated back and forth, with Johnson at points appearing to not recognize Reilly and Ald. Scott Waguespack as they raised their hands to speak. The mayor dismissed Reilly's claims that his corporation counsel was behind the alleged scheme.
'It was read into the record correctly, if you have an issue with the content or context, that sounds deeply personal, but it was read correctly,' Johnson said.
Reilly responded that he would have sent the measure to the City Council's Rules Committee, a move that would delay the tax's passage by adding another layer of required approval.
'Well, what you would have done or could have done, you had an opportunity,' Johnson said.
Reilly later cited the Open Meetings Act to argue Johnson was trying to avoid public scrutiny on the tax. And he continued to speak when he was not recognized.
'You have to recognize that,' Reilly shouted, his microphone off. 'I can sue.'
The heated back-and-forth marks the official start of what is sure to be a complicated effort by Johnson to keep the tax going for Chicago consumers.
Gov. JB Pritzker led the charge last year to rid the state of its decades-old grocery tax, arguing the regressive tax hits poor families hardest. The state tax will expire at the start of 2026. But Pritzker also left the door open for local governments to decide to implement the tax on their own, an offer around 200 municipalities across Illinois have already taken.
Johnson's budget director, Annette Guzman, urged aldermen to implement the tax earlier this month. Failing to do so before the Oct. 1 deadline would blow an $80 million hole in the city's already unbalanced future budget, she said.
After council adjourned, Reilly told reporters he plans to file a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General, saying the ordinance is now 'ripe for a lawsuit' should it pass. He said City Clerk Anna Valencia traditionally reads aloud the subject matter of the new items, and the obfuscation on Wednesday prevented him from using a parliamentary move to delay the legislation.
A spokesperson for City Clerk Anna Valencia told the Tribune Wednesday that the clerk's protocol is to read aloud new items based on the language used in the mayor's transmittal letter to her office.
A copy of the letter from Johnson regarding the grocery tax instructed her to introduce the legislation as 'an ordinance amending revenue-related provisions of Title 3 of the Municipal Code,' which was what she did during the meeting.
Aldermen also passed a Wrigley Field security upgrade plan that involves $32.1 million from the Cubs, city and state. The team and city officials are hopeful the added safety will check off a final box for Major League Baseball and help land Chicago an MLB All-Star Game.
The City Council also decided to grant St. Adalbert Catholic Church landmark status. The decision marks a decisive turning point in a long preservation battle over the closed Polish Pilsen church.
Activists who want the church reopened were dismayed that the final landmark status only protects the church building and not other buildings on the property. The narrowed landmarking clears the way for the Archdiocese of Chicago to sell the plot to a nondenominational Christian ministry.
Aldermen delayed consideration on an ordinance that would grant them the power to ban Airbnb's and other short-term rentals on a precinct-by-precinct basis. The measure would allow short-term rental companies to overturn aldermen's decision by collecting signatures of support from 10% of an affected precinct's voters.