06/24/2026
For all intents and purposes, consider Chicago’s budget season underway. On June 1 the mayor’s office announced 2027 Budget Engagement Roundtables, inviting Chicagoans to share their priorities over a process that’s meant to deliver a final budget by the end of the year.
It’s a cycle that seems to follow a familiar pattern: The mayor and City Council will rely on a hodgepodge of additional and increased taxes, fines and fees to force a balanced budget. It’s also a process that tinkers around the margins, setting the table for it to be repeated the next year.
Chicago depends on a broad tax base to meet its budget needs. As the need grows, individuals and the city's small and medium-sized businesses pay more. Close to 100,000 businesses operate in Chicago — from liquor and grocery stores to vintage and v**e shops, bars and restaurants, boutiques and more. They play a role in the city budget’s math, contributing revenue by collecting and remitting sales taxes, paying localized property taxes and licensing and permit fees.
Broadway Antique Market, a two-floor vintage emporium, is co-owned by Duane Cerny and Jeffrey Nelson.
Cerny says the city charges signage permit fees like the one for the tall marquee mounted above the front door because it hangs over the public sidewalk; a Secondhand Dealer license fee, which he says this year increased 22; and a Special Service Area tax that adds an extra 3% on property taxes for anyone who owns a building.
Read more in this month's Forum here: https://www.chicagobusiness.com/forum/ccb-chicago-budget-squeeze-keeps-repeating-20260622/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own
