Leave it to Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration to make something that ought to be simple and straightforward into a convoluted mess.

The city of Chicago in April hired accounting giant Ernst & Young to root through the city’s operations and bureaucracy for ways to cut costs as Chicago faces a 2026 budget deficit topping $1 billion and structural deficits as far as the eye can see. The contract for the firm’s services was pricey: more than $3 million.

So aldermen who ultimately will have to vote for a budget to plug that yawning deficit understandably would like to see what Ernst & Young has to offer apart from yet more taxes and fees. We’d like to see that report as well. And interested taxpayers certainly should have access to the work product their taxes have purchased.

But, no. T

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