Chicago’s Head Case Wants a Head Tax

There are bad ideas, really bad ideas, and then there is whatever Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is proposing next. His latest desire is a head tax on job creation in the city.

America’s worst mayor is proposing a $21 a month tax on each employee of businesses that have more than a hundred employees. Chicago is facing a $1 billion budget shortfall for 2026, and the mayor’s office projects the tax would bring in about $100 million in new revenue. The mayor seems not to have heard of the truism that if you tax something you get less of it.

Mr. Johnson’s Budget Director Annette Guzman told the Chicago Tribune that the tax would apply only to employees who spend three days a week in the office. But many offices are still recovering from the work-at-home Covid years. The mayor apparently wants to give companies incentive to keep employees working at home.

That’s bad news for Chicago restaurants trying to win back regular lunch crowds. It also penalizes companies whose business is more blue-collar or in services. Workers who need to be in person each day (say, in healthcare or manufacturing) don’t have the luxury of evading the head tax by working from home.