This moment demands more revolutionary voices in journalism. Support independent, Black-owned journalism today.
Chicago is home to some of the world’s largest and richest corporations such as McDonald’s, Google and Kraft Heinz. Mayor Brandon Johnson and the grassroots coalition of organizers who elected him say it’s time for the wealthy to pay their fair share, a sentiment echoing throughout America and emphasized by the Nov. 4 mayoral election of Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani in New York City.
“Quite frankly, as much attention as we’re getting around the corporate head tax, I have to be just brutally honest here. It is absolutely frustrating at a time in which people are crying out desperately for government to respond to the basic fundamentals, and we are in a moment where there are more billionaires – we’re close to having a trillionaire, maybe a couple of them – and people are asking about a third of a percent to keep people safe,” Johnson said during a media availability on Nov. 6. “We just saw the election results across this country that people want the government, and particularly Democrats, to stand up for working people.”
As Chicago undergoes the 2026 budget season, digging for ways to close a $1.15 billion shortfall, past choices of previous mayors surrounding a corporate head tax echo throughout City Hall. The head tax, proposed by Johnson, would charge large corporations with 100 or more employees that operate in Chicago a monthly fee of $21 per person. The money would fund mental health services, youth programs and community violence intervention, according to the budget proposal.
“The fact that how we got to this point is Rahm Emanuel decided, by fiat, to get rid of the head tax. He didn’t do a study. It wasn’t because it was discussed like this is being discussed. None of that took place,” said Delmarie Cobb, a veteran political consultant. “He just decided he was going to get rid of the head tax. And one of the reasons he got rid of the head tax was because it was an outreach to the business community that I’m going to be a pro-business mayor.”
Today, Cobb is among those rooting for the corporate head tax to make a return to the city. Proponents of the head tax are challenging the notion that it would cause businesses to flee the city. Cobb said the head tax would’ve generated at least $50 million for Chicago in 2014 had Emanuel not repealed it and could have generated half a billion dollars toward the city’s budget by now.
Emanuel, known for his connections with Chicago’s upper brass such as billionaire Michael Sacks, is back in the national spotlight again as he toys with a 2028 run for president. Had he kept the corporate head tax, Cobb said, Chicago would not be struggling with a billion-dollar budget hole.
“One of the other things he did was he closed 50 schools, he closed half of the city’s mental health clinics, and he closed the police districts, and crime went up,” Cobb said about Emanuel’s tenure as Chicago mayor. Today, Chicago is experiencing record lows in crime.
“And why do we think [Emanuel] closed those things? Because he was trying to close the hole that he created by getting rid of the head tax and nobody seems to connect the dots,” Cobb said.
Prior to Emanuel, Chicago had a head tax that was established under the Richard J. Daley administration. When the mayor proposed the tax in 1973, he did so to balance the fiscal year (FY) 1974 budget, according to a 1973 report by The New York Times. Back then, the Chicago City Council was a so-called rubberstamp and favored the decision 35-8 with proponents calling it a solution that addresses inflation while avoiding increases to property taxes and city salaries, according to reporting by The New York Times. In 1974, companies with 15 or more employees paid a monthly rate of $3-per-employee.
Under Daley’s son, the tax increased to $4 per employee in 1995 on companies with 50 or more workers, according to the Tax Foundation.
Emanuel later called the head tax a “job killer.” He eliminated it in 2014. The tax equated to roughly $20 million in annual revenue for the city. Emanuel’s phasing out of the head tax was contingent on Ford creating 2,000 new jobs at its car production plant in the Southeast Side neighborhood of Hegewisch, the Sun-Times reported in 2011.
Ishan Daya, co-executive director of the nonpartisan Institute for the Public Good (IPG), said Emanuel got rid of the corporate head tax “based on vibes.” He added that Chicago has not seen significant job growth since the repeal of the head tax. Daya explained that four years before Emanuel eliminated the head tax, Chicago saw employment growth that outpaced national growth by 66%.
“Between 2014 and 2020, we saw Chicago’s employment growth outpacing national employment growth by 1%, so I’m not here saying that the repeal of the head tax decreased our employment growth by no means,” Daya explained, “but what I am saying is that it did not yield the employment growth that Rahm Emanuel and his corporate lobbyists were pushing in the media and were pushing across the business community.”
Johnson’s efforts to bring back the corporate head tax is being opposed by corporations and business lobbyists. They say the tax discourages hiring and growth in the Loop — specifically, because Johnson’s version doesn’t apply to remote positions, opponents say the tax would lead to layoffs and push jobs out of the city.
Though she agrees with Johnson’s efforts to bring back the head tax, Cobb disagrees with his proposal that companies can dodge it by having employees work remotely, stating that it wouldn’t lead to more growth for Chicago’s business corridors.
“The biggest problem I have with the mayor’s proposal for the head tax is not the head tax itself, but the fact that he’s offering a workaround [to] the head tax,” Cobb said. “The workaround is that if corporations only bring workers back to the city two days a week, then they won’t have to pay the head tax.”
Gov. JB Pritzker, a fellow Democrat who is making waves nationally as a possible 2028 presidential contender, is pushing back on the head tax as well. He’s stated that it penalizes more employment and makes it hard to attract companies to the city. Keep in mind, Pritzker is a billionaire and heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune.
According to the Tax Foundation, a tax policy nonprofit, the head tax would hurt the city and “policymakers should look to existing revenue sources and make tax policy decisions that generate strong revenue streams by promoting, rather than hindering, long-term economic growth.”
Last week, 26 members of the Chicago City Council signed a letter expressing concern about the proposed head tax. The letter was circulated online.
As written in Johnson’s budget proposal, the head tax — called the “Community Safety Surcharge” — would establish a new $100-million “Community Safety Fund” to increase funding for mental health support for first responders, youth diversion and employment programs, services for domestic and gender-based violence, and community violence intervention, according to the budget proposal.
The opposing alders are asking Johnson to find an alternative for the $100 million and requesting a hearing with accounting company Ernst & Young to testify about why certain budget recommendations were adopted and others were not. According to the Sun-Times, the EY report includes as much as $1.4 billion in cost savings that rely on modifying employee benefits, organization changes to city government and procurement reforms.
The city reportedly paid the consulting firm $3.2 million to create cost saving and revenue-generating ideas in a report entitled “City of Chicago, Financial and Strategic Reform Options.”
According to Jake Sheridan from the Chicago Tribune, several alders are requesting a special meeting to speak with Ernst & Young consultants on Monday. If the 26 alders arrive at City Hall on Monday, quorum would be set to question the consultants, according to the Sun-Times.
“We are gravely concerned that reinstating the head tax would discourage hiring, push employers outside city limits and make Chicago less competitive,” the letter reads. “We ask your administration to model alternative budget scenarios that exclude this jobs tax.”
The alders who signed the letter are:
- Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward)
- Pat Dowell (3rd Ward), Chair of the Finance Committee
- Desmon Yancy (5th Ward)
- Greg Mitchell (7th Ward), Transportation Chair
- Michelle Harris (8th Ward), Chair of the Rules Committee
- Anthony Beale (9th Ward)
- Peter Chico (10th Ward)
- Nicole Lee (11th Ward)
- Marty Quinn (13th Ward)
- Raymond Lopez (15th Ward)
- Stephanie Coleman (16th Ward), chair of the Chicago Aldermanic Black Caucus
- Derrick Curtis (18th Ward )
- Matt O’Shea (19th Ward)
- Sylvana Tabares (23rd Ward)
- Monique Scott (24th Ward)
- Felix Cardona (31st Ward)
- Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward)
- Bill Conway (34th Ward)
- Gil Villegas (36th Ward)
- Nick Sposato (38th Ward)
- Sam Nugent (39th Ward)
- Anthony Napolitano (41st Ward)
- Brendan Reilly (42nd Ward)
- Timmy Knudsen (43rd Ward)
- Bennett Lawson (44th Ward)
- Jim Gardiner (45th Ward)
- Debra Silverstein (50th Ward)
The thing is, organizers with The People’s Unity Platform (PUP), a coalition of various grassroots organizations, spent the summer and fall speaking to Chicago residents about their Babies Before Billionaires campaign. The coalition — which is composed of unionized workers and community organizers — is pushing for more progressive forms of taxation.
PUP held a press conference outside of City Hall on Nov. 4 just before the budget hearing for economic development and arts.
“Last week, some members of city council signed on to a letter to the mayor saying they don’t want to ask corporations to pay. They don’t want to ask large, wealthy corporations to pay more so our city can address this issue,” Santera Matthews, a member of PUP and the Green Social Housing Campaign, said during the press conference. “This is why we’re gathered here today as housing advocates, educators and organizers, because we know that we need to tax the rich if we want to stand up to Trump and his wealthy backers and get the neighborhoods that our residents and our community members deserve.”
Newly-appointed Ald. Red Burnett initially signed the letter but later removed his name. He told The TRiiBE he was initially focused on speaking with consultants from the business management group Ernst & Young to look at every option available to fill the budget gap.
“The reason why I took my name off off of that document is that the Mayor’s Office is willing to have conversation about reforming and coming up with new solutions around how we can make a head tax make sense for certain industries, all industries, removing some but also figuring out ways and structuring it [so] that [it] can actually be more beneficial than harmful to our everyday constituents,” Burnett said.
Ald. Yancy told The TRiiBE on Oct. 16 that he thought Johnson’s budget proposal was “extremely progressive.” Now, his thoughts have apparently changed. Yancy signed onto the letter and business PAC One Future Illinois sent out text messages to constituents urging them to call Yancy and tell him thanks for speaking out against Johnson’s “irresponsible budget.” Yancy did not immediately respond to questions about his position on the head tax.
Despite the opposition, Johnson continues to double down on his head tax proposal.
“Why is there such a proclivity to defend billionaires but not working people,” Johnson asked during the press availability on Nov. 6. “Why is it that no one asks what would happen to the people of Chicago, particularly working people, if we continue to place pressure on them? Are we not concerned that they will flee or be pushed out? Because I certainly am.”
Daya echoed Johnson’s point. He said the supposed concern over corporations leaving is problematic. People need to be concerned about everyday Chicagoans, he said, who would leave if the city continues down this path of regressive taxation.
During the NYC election, the rich threatened to leave the city should Mamdani win the election. Mamdani’s campaign drew more than a million voters to support him; NYC saw its largest voter turnout in history. Mamdani campaigned on making life for everyday people more affordable by taxing the rich, freezing rents and making buses free — ideals seen as a blatant response to the power grab of the Trump administration and his rich pals.
“We cannot continue to make decisions off of the vibes of corporate lobbyists, instead, we actually need to be talking to and listening to the constituents that are going to be bearing the burden of more taxes if we don’t start asking corporations to pay their fair share,” Daya said.
