CHICAGO (CBS) — The Chicago City Council on Thursday unanimously rejected Mayor Brandon Johnson's proposed $300 million property tax hike, forcing the mayor and his budget team to go back to the drawing board to balance the city budget for 2025.

The overwhelming vote was largely symbolic. Negotiations aimed at reducing or eliminating the property tax increase and replacing it with a healthy mix of new revenues and reprogrammed federal pandemic relief funds began last weekend.

Mayor Brandon Johnson presided over a special meeting of the Chicago City Council on Thursday where alderpeople unanimously voted down his property tax proposal.

The Chicago City Council emphatically voted down Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to hike property taxes by $300 million Thursday, creating a yawning hole in the city’s 2025 budget that must now be closed.

The Chicago City Council on Thursday rejected Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to raise property taxes by $300 million that would have helped close a budget gap of nearly $1 billion for next year.

The mayor and council members are now negotiating hikes to taxes and fees on alcohol, streaming services and garbage collection, among others.

In a special meeting, Chicago's City Council voted unanimously to remove the mayor's proposed $300 million property tax increase from the 2025 budget plan. Why it matters: The removal of the tax hike will force Mayor Brandon Johnson to make hard decisions on other ways to generate more revenue or where to make cuts to city services.

The City Council will take a vote Thursday on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed $300 million property tax hike, announced when he unveiled his $17.3 billion city budget for 2025 last month. That means the mayor could make it official that he’s essentially giving up on his proposed property tax hike for city residents,