Chicago Payroll Tax Draws Opposition From City’s Business Heads

A group backed by financier Michael Sacks has started funding ads against Chicago’s plan to bring back a tax on large corporate payrolls, drawing the ire of Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Common Ground Collective, which has raised $11 million to drive change at City Hall years before the next mayoral election, is financing six-figure digital and streaming ads, including one that characterizes the proposed levy as $100 million in new taxes. The group is backed by Sacks, chairman of asset management firm GCM Grosvenor and a prominent Democratic donor, and has more than 100 contributors.

Johnson, who is struggling to ...