Mayor Johnson’s budget relies on tens of millions in additional fines

When Mayor Brandon Johnson introduced his 2024 budget, he noted the city had for too long balanced such spending plans on the backs of working people and vowed to end the practice.

A “$95 city sticker or a $100 parking ticket weighs more heavily on the family that earns $30,000 a year versus a family that earns $150,000 a year,” he said, and the city had “relied too long on a tax structure that heavily burdens our lowest income residents, and is too reliant on property taxes, fees and fines and rates.”

And yet, Johnson’s 2024 financial package counts on $46 million more in fines and fees than this year, a 15% increase.