Aldermen are seated in Council Chambers during a Thursday budget hearing. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Aldermen during Thursday’s budget hearing with the city’s Department of Family and Support Services learned more information about the city’s $31.5 million guaranteed income pilot program and how Chicago is helping the more than 3,000 asylum seekers who have been bused to the city from Texas.

Max Bever (first from left) and Charles Holiday (second from left), both with Chicago’s Board of Election Commissioners, during a Thursday budget hearing. [City of Chicago livestream]

Aldermen used Thursday’s budget hearing for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners to needle election officials about a reduction in the number of voter precincts for the upcoming General Election and next year’s Municipal Election.

Nolan Downey speaks before the Cook County Finance Committee’s public hearing on the 2023 budget Thursday. [Cook County Government Livestream]

The Cook County Board of Commissioners Finance Committee convened for two public hearings Thursday on Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s proposed 2023 spending plan.

During the first hearing Thursday morning, funding to support health care access and equity and the county’s guaranteed basic income pilot program were two dominant topics among public speakers.

Department of Procurement Services staff speak before the City Council budget committee on Wednesday. [City Council Livestream]

The city’s Department of Procurement Services faced questions from aldermen on the City Council budget committee Wednesday, with a focus on boosting the number of minority groups awarded city contracts. Chief Procurement Officer Aileen Velazquez was joined by staff for the hearing before the Committee on Budget and Government Operations.

Aldermen sit in Council Chambers during a budget hearing Wednesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Chicago’s Department of Assets, Information and Services plans to add 182 new electric vehicles to the city’s fleet next year as part of the effort to ensure 25 percent of the city’s light-duty vehicles are electric by the end of 2023.

Chicago Animal Care and Control Executive Director Mamadou Diakhate (second from left) speaks during a budget hearing Wednesday. [City of Chicago livestream]

Aldermen again called for more funding for Chicago Animal Care and Control following the department’s first-ever ad campaign on CTA buses and trains.

The Board of Election Commissioners will detail its budget on Thursday. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Leaders of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, Department of Family and Support Services, Department of Administrative Hearings and the License Board of Appeals are set to defend their 2023 budget requests Thursday during a 9 a.m. meeting of the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations.

CCPSA Executive Director Adam Gross and Commission President Anthony Driver speak before the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations on Tuesday. [City Council Livestream]

Members of the City Council questioned leaders of the city’s first-of-its-kind civilian police oversight commission Tuesday on their budget, staffing and scope of work during a three-hour hearing before the Committee on Budget and Government Operations.

While the commission’s executive director said he expects the commission’s workforce to grow in the years ahead, he couldn’t give an exact estimate of the future staffing needs and said more would become clear after the fledgling commission operates for a year.

City Council chambers during a committee hearing Tuesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Department of Buildings Comm. Matthew Beaudet told aldermen his department supports the $3 million tiny home pilot program proposed in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s 2023 budget and responded to questions from aldermen on a flurry of topics during a budget hearing Tuesday.

Chicago has replaced only a little more than 200 of nearly 400,000 lead service lines. [Pexels]

Chicago has replaced only more than 200 of the nearly 400,000 lead service lines that could contaminate tap water, the department’s commissioner told aldermen on Tuesday.

Mamadou Diakhate, executive director of Chicago Animal Care and Control (second from left), answers questions during a budget hearing in 2021. [City of Chicago livestream]

Leaders of Chicago Animal Care and Control, the Department of Procurement Services and the Department of Assets, Information and Services are set on Wednesday to take their turns detailing their 2023 budget proposals.

The three departments will appear in front of aldermen in council chambers beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday for the fourth day of hearings on Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed spending plan for 2023.

Related: Lightfoot details $16.4B spending plan that closes projected budget gap without property tax hike

City leaders present during Friday’s budget hearing. [City of Chicago livestream]

The city’s Department of Human Resources has sliced the average amount of time it takes to fill an open position from 120 days to 80 days. But while aldermen acknowledged the progress, they still pushed the department to improve hiring for city positions.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle presents her proposal for the 2023 Forest Preserve District of Cook County budget during an address Friday. [Forest Preserve District Board livestream]

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced a $140.7 million proposed budget for the Cook County Forest Preserve District during a Friday address before the board of commissioners, and though she spoke fondly about the programs undertaken by the district, she urged voters to pass a tax hike at the polls this November to address “chronic fiscal issues.”

Adam Gross, executive director of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, speaks during a news conference in August. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Aldermen are set to come back to City Hall at 9 a.m. Tuesday for the third day of budget hearings when the city’s new Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, the Department of Buildings and the Department of Water Management detail their proposed 2023 budgets.

The City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations held its first budget hearing Thursday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Aldermen used their first day of hearings on the 2023 budget to urge the city to fulfill a mayoral campaign promise by bringing back a Department of Environment and called for more resources for their offices.