Mayor Brandon Johnson is all but giving up on his proposed $300 million property tax hike before aldermen kill it, and pushing them to find other revenue in its place to avert layoffs. Johnson’s administration is combing over alternatives to the tax jump after members of the City Council scheduled a special meeting in the hopes of voting it down.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said his proposed 4 percent increase was just a play to increase engagement on the city’s budget.

Twenty-two of the City Council’s 50 members met Saturday with top mayoral aides, including Johnson’s budget team, to begin negotiations that, some alderpersons said, should have started long before Johnson belatedly introduced his $17.

Dozens of aldermen called for a special meeting to vote down the mayor's proposed $300 million property tax increase.

The hike would boost taxes by 4.8% — raising them, for example, $318 on a $350,000 Chicago home — at a time when many have watched property taxes double over the last decade. Catch up fast: The mayor proposed the hike in his $17.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is calling an audible, as he walks back his proposal for a $300 million property tax hike to balance the budget.