A divided City Council on Monday handed Mayor Lori Lightfoot the $16.4 billion 2023 budget that will serve as her reelection platform amid complaints that it shortchanges public safety, climate change and her own progressive promises.
Lightfoot cut in half a property tax increase tied to the rate of inflation, then eliminated that $42.7 million increase altogether, perhaps to pave the way for the easiest budget vote of a four-year term marred by the pandemic and civil unrest.
