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

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.

Johnson has taken a proposed $300 million property tax hike off the table to work with council members on other ways to fill the budget. He met with some alders prior to today’s budget committee meeting. The alders had planned to vote down the property tax hike, but it appears they are now collaborating.

The 29 council members who asked for the meeting are critical of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to close a gaping budget hole next year in part by raising property taxes.

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.

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,