Renderings show a planned $100 million transit-oriented mixed-use development at 214 N. Morgan St. near the Morgan CTA Green Line station. [Chicago Department of Planning and Development]

The Chicago Plan Commission on Thursday approved a lakefront protection application for new housing in Edgewater, proposals for new housing in Uptown, Fulton Market and Morgan Park, a basketball facility for DePaul University and adoption of a new 20-year downtown development framework.

A panel including Alds. Jessie Fuentes (26), Matt O'Shea (19), Samantha Nugent (39) and Jason Ervin (28) are pictured at a City Club luncheon on Nov. 19, 2025. [Livestream]

After an impasse over the 2026 city budget was laid bare this week, four members of the City Council appeared on a City Club of Chicago panel Wednesday to debate potential solutions to the city’s nearly $1.2 billion budget gap, with all of them seeming to agree that a property tax levy hike, even though not currently proposed, should be off the table.

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas attends a county budget hearing on Oct. 30, 2025. [Livestream]

A stark drop in commercial property values in the Loop is one of the main drivers behind sticker stock for homeowners that recently received second installment Cook County property tax bills, according to a study released this week by Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ office. 

The increase in property tax bills hit some of Chicago’s Black communities the hardest, the study also showed. 

Ald. Anthony Beale (9) speaks during a City Council meeting on Feb. 26, 2025. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council on Tuesday met to formally delay a key portion of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2026 budget plan after the Committee on Finance failed to advance the annual revenue ordinance Monday, which included a revived corporate head tax and multiple other tax, fee and fine proposals. 

The council also gave final approval to a landmark designation that was deferred at last week’s council meeting, and some alderpeople tried but failed to name Ald. Bennett Lawson (44) as the permanent chair of the powerful zoning committee. 

County Board President Toni Preckwinkle speaks at a forest preserves board meeting on Nov. 18, 2025. [Livestream]

Commissioners for the Board of the Cook County Forest Preserves on Tuesday unanimously approved a $194.1 million budget for the district for 2026, representing a $4.78 million, or 2.5 percent, increase from 2025.

The board approved an amended version of the budget that Board President Toni Preckwinkle introduced in October.

Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a City Council meeting on Oct. 30, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Finance voted down Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposal to revive a corporate head tax to fund various community safety initiatives Monday alongside myriad other tax, fine and fee proposals, quashing an attempt to get his spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year over the finish line this week and delaying any approval into December. 

The committee vote came just days after the mayor and his budget team did not introduce the ordinances that make up the annual budget during a council meeting, opting instead to directly introduce the appropriations, revenue, management and bond ordinances directly into committee.

Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks after a City Council meeting on Nov. 14, 2025. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The mayor and his budget team did not introduce the ordinances that make up the annual city budget during a City Council meeting Friday, signaling that even a now-revised version of mayor’s controversial proposal to increase taxes on businesses and the wealthy to plug a nearly $1.2 billion gap next year may not have the votes to pass out of the finance and budget committees as planned Monday.

Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry is questioned by Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) during a budget hearing on Nov. 13, 2025. [Livestream]

Leaders from the Department of Law (DOL) told alderpeople during a budget hearing Thursday they would hire staff to bring in additional revenue, fight the Trump administration against frozen grant funds and continue to strategize to settle large swaths of police misconduct cases tied to problematic officers. 

The head of the department also reiterated confidence in defending the mayor’s proposed social media tax, which would be the first of its kind.

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

Chicago Department of Animal Care and Control (ACC) Acting Executive Director Susan Cappello testified before the City Council’s budget committee Thursday and revealed her office has seen a 30 percent surge in shelter intake, processing over 13,000 animals this year.  

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

The City Council on Friday will consider numerous proposals to allocate city financial assistance to housing and park district projects, the latest multimillion-dollar legal settlement related to a notorious ex-cop and a resolution to create a task force focused on gender-based violence. 

The council will meet at 10 a.m.

Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) questions City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin during a budget hearing on Nov. 12, 2025. [Livestream]

City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin announced Wednesday that she has directed her office to boycott the purchase of U.S. Treasury bonds in protest of what she called the “authoritarian regime” of President Donald Trump.

DHR Comm. Sandra Blakemore takes questions from Ald. Michelle Harris (8) during a budget hearing on Nov. 12, 2025. [Livestream]

Alderpeople on Wednesday asked the head of the Department of Human Resources (DHR) about shortening the time it takes to hire new employees during a budget hearing.

The human resources department oversees recruiting and onboarding new city employees, developing the city’s workforce and includes a board to hear claims of discrimination and other misconduct.

Ald. Bill Conway (34) questions interim COPA Chief Administrator LaKenya White during a budget hearing on Nov. 12, 2025. [Livestream]

The city’s police oversight bodies — the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) and the Chicago Police Board — detailed their proposed 2026 budgets before the Committee on Budget and Government Operations Wednesday.

Ernst and Young Principal Adam Chepenik, left, presents during a budget committee hearing on Nov. 10, 2025. [Livestream]

Alderpeople on Monday grilled city budget leaders and a representative from consulting firm Ernst and Young during a Committee on Budget and Government Operations hearing on a report on potential cost-saving and revenue-generating solutions to Chicago’s structural budget gap.

Deputy Corporation Counsel Jessica Felker, left, speaks at a finance committee meeting on Nov. 10, 2025. [Livestream]

The City Council Committee on Finance on Monday advanced a multimillion-dollar legal settlement with a man who’s accused a disgraced former cop of framing him and multiple parks and housing projects proposed for city financial assistance.