On June 3, a letter to Mayor Johnson signed by 19 aldermen, including Raymond Lopez (15th), Marty Quinn (13th) and Silvana Tabares (23rd), requested the mayor disclose contract details with accounting firm Ernst & Young to the full City Council and the Council Office of Financial Analysis.
The letter was updated June 4 to add six additional aldermen and Janice Oda-Gray, chief administrator, Chicago Office of Financial Analysis, bringing the total number of signers to 27.
“My understanding is we have two things,” said Lopez. “We have the budget efficiency work group which the mayor assembled with 20 similar-thinking individuals.
“Then you have, which surprised all of us, this unexpected $3.18 million contract with Ernst & Young to look for efficiencies during year one with the option to be retained at similar pricing totaling nearly $8 or 9 million,” he added.
Lopez said the real problem for council members, particularly those on the Southwest Side, is the nearly $700 million in efficiencies (budget cuts) identified by the council last budget season that would have brought the city closer to its pre-COVID numbers.
“This administration was not interested, in the slightest, in what we had to offer,” he said.
The City of Chicago Finance Committee operates on a $22 million budget, not including the $3.18 million contract with Ernst & Young, according to Lopez, who said the third party firm was brought on to further the Johnson administration’s political narrative via how budgeted monies are spent in Chicago.
A May 16 press release from Mayor Johnson announced the formation, by Executive Order Number 2025-1, of the “Chicago Fiscal Working Sustainability Working Group (CFSWG),” that included Microsoft and Google representatives, members ranging from labor groups, social and civic improvement agencies, investment banking firms, local finance firms and tax and budget businesses.
The group was convened to identify efficiencies to reduce budget gaps with the goal of stabilizing and improving Chicago’s financial standing for the future.
Also included are members of the City Council acting as an advisory group to CFSWG.
The group includes Aldermen Pat Dowell (3rd), City Council Finance Chair, Jason Ervin (28th), William Hall (6th), David Moore (17th) and Mike Rodriguez (22nd).
The press release also stated additions to the group as the CFSWG progresses.
A contractual agreement with Ernst & Young was not mentioned in the press release.
Lopez’s concern is the city’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget is $17.1 billion with the administration reporting a $1 billion shortfall in FY 2026. Coupled with pension payments to Chicago firefighters, four years in the waiting, totaling nearly $350 million and nearly 100 Jon Burge police misconduct settlements, the total cost is $550 million.
None are factored into the $1 billion deficit, nor are any other outstanding labor agreement payments from last year, not including future debt coming due as well, according to the alderman.
“There’s a reason they keep kicking the can on the firemen’s contract because they know if you have to increase the cost of government to cover it, that’s another $350 million,” Lopez said.
The city budgeted $82 million in police misconduct settlements with an additional $62.5 million approved by the City Council that now total $144.55 million, according to WBEZ.
“They say, ‘the money will come from somewhere’,” he said. “There is no magical ‘somewhere.’ Money comes from the pockets of the taxpayers.”
Quinn has a similar take on the contract.
“I was one of the signers of that [Ernst & Young transparency] letter,” Quinn said. “Going back to last budget-making season, I was the lead sponsor calling for a special session to vote down the mayor’s $300 million property tax increase. I continue to call for reforms. The City of Chicago cannot continue to ask for more money from the taxpayers, period.”
Quinn has called for an ordinance to change requirements for all bond-related votes from a simple majority to a ⅔ majority to give the Council more power. The ordinance will be heard next month in the City Council’s Finance Committee, he said.
“The city’s finances under this mayor are in a dire situation,” Quinn continued. “He hasn’t shown any leadership in Springfield in generating new revenue sources so we, as a City Council, have to step up and push back on the idea of property tax increases. That’s what I intend to do.”