Aviation Comm. Michael McMurray, third from left, testifies at a budget hearing on Oct. 23, 2025. [Livestream]

Alderpeople asked the leader of the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) about the possibility of installing slot machines at the city’s airports and the impact of the government shutdown during its 2026 budget hearing Thursday.

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.