Water Management Comm. Randy Conner answers questions from Ald. Bill Conway (34) during a budget hearing on Oct. 23, 2025. [Livestream]

Alderpeople asked the water department about lead service line replacement and disaster relief for recent flash floods during the department’s 2026 budget hearing Thursday.

Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) is pictured at a City Council meeting on Dec. 16, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

During a presentation on the Chicago Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) proposed 2026 budget on Wednesday, department leadership fielded questions from downtown and North Side alderpeople about the impacts of multiple construction projects that have created traffic gridlock in the area.

CDOT’s budget next year is set to decrease by nearly 10 percent, or $202 million, to $1.8 billion, and the department is set to lose 95 positions to total 1,481.

Budget Director Annette Guzman speaks at a City Hall press conference on April 1, 2025. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Alderpeople voiced concerns about a potential credit downgrade stemming from a proposed lower supplemental pension payment, project delays from a planned record-high sweep of city tax increment financing (TIF) districts and the economic impacts of a new proposed head tax during the first day of 2026 city budget hearings. 

Budget Director Annette Guzman, Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski and Comptroller Michael Belsky presented to the Committee on Budget and Government Operations and took questions from City Council members on the mayor’s budget plan, which proposes to close a $1.189 billion gap through more than $400 million in expenditure reductions and nearly $800 million in new revenue. 

Ald. Bennett Lawson (44) speaks during a City Council meeting on March 12, 2025. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

A group of 18 alderpeople last week introduced a measure that would opt their wards’ single-family residential zoning districts into allowing accessory dwelling units (ADUs), such as attic and basement conversion units or coach houses. The proposal came after the City Council last month approved a compromise ordinance legalizing ADUs in multifamily and business districts citywide while exempting most single-family areas.

The ordinance would overwrite and incorporate five existing pilot areas that were first established under the 2021 ADU pilot ordinance and were grandfathered into the legalization ordinance. They remain the only areas containing single-family zones that allow ADUs until other areas opt in. 

Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski speaks during a press conference at City Hall on March 18, 2025. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line] 

Members of the Chicago City Council on Tuesday will kick off the first week of 2026 budget hearings with presentations from the Office of Budget and Management (OBM), Department of Finance and Office of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Budget hearings, which are held by the Committee on Budget and Government Operations, will kick off at 10 a.m. in council chambers. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a City Council meeting on Dec. 16, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Multiple business associations were swift to voice their opposition to Mayor Brandon Johnson's proposal to resurrect a tax based on employee headcount for large corporations after he unveiled it last week as part of his 2026 budget plan, which closes a nearly $1.2 billion deficit.  

While many progressive allies largely hailed the revenue options included in the budget that target the wealthy and big business — higher taxes on boat mooring and cloud computing are also proposed — some advocacy and labor groups said the plan didn’t do enough to protect certain city services or fix its finances.

Mayor Brandon Johnson delivers his 2026 budget address during a City Council meeting on Oct. 16, 2025. [Mayor's Office]

Mayor Brandon Johnson on Thursday unveiled a slightly reduced $16.6 billion proposed budget for 2026 on Thursday that makes some cuts and asks for hundreds of millions from new and increased taxes and fees on the wealthy.

City Hall is pictured. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council on Thursday approved a new contract with the union representing Chicago firefighters, the appointment of a new Department of Family Support and Services (DFSS) commissioner and the upzoning of North Broadway in Uptown and Edgewater.