The Cook County Forest Preserve District seal on a podium during a July 2023 meeting. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

The Cook County Forest Preserve District Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a $188.7 million budget for 2024 during a special meeting Tuesday.

Next year’s spending plan includes a corporate budget of $87.3 million, which is a $12.1 million increase from 2023, and $30.5 million for the Brookfield Zoo and the Chicago Botanic Garden.  

From left, Comm. Sean Morrison (R-17) and Comm. Alma Anaya (D-7) attend a Cook County board meeting in September. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Cook County commissioners will vote on a new paid leave policy, information technology contracts, a healthy eating initiative, a call to address the fentanyl crisis and the acquisition of land for a new hazardous waste facility during committee meetings Wednesday.

A new set of rules for public comment decorum will be read at the beginning of each City Council and committee meeting. A key City Council committee on Tuesday approved TIF funding for two developments in the city. Another committee approved appointments and reappointments to various advisory boards.

Three members of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability during a news conference in May. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

The Chicago Police Department’s proposed 2024 budget is “a definite improvement” from the department’s 2023 spending plan, but concerns still exist around workforce allocation, community policing and response times, the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), the body tasked with reviewing the police department’s annual budget, wrote in a letter addressed to alderpeople Monday.

Members of the public safety committee met Monday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

A City Council committee on Monday gave an initial OK to a proposal designating noise sensitive zones near the intersection of Washington and Des Plaines streets where anti-abortion activists this year have protested outside the Family Planning Associates clinic. 

Members of the Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety met Monday. [City of Chicago livestream] 

A group of community organizations and advocates are urging the City Council to change the way police conduct traffic stops to root out pretextual stops that disproportionally target Black and Latino drivers.  

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle addresses the county board of commissioners in October. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The Board of Commissioners for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County will vote on approval of the 2024 budget during a special meeting Tuesday in the county board room.

Tuesday’s special meeting will take place before a regular meeting of the board at 10 a.m. but after committee meetings. 

A City Council committee on Monday will hold a hearing on police traffic stops in Chicago and their disproportionate impacts on Black and Latine drivers and pedestrians. Another council committee is set to vote on a measure that would establish a noise sensitive zone around a clinic that provides abortions where anti-abortion advocates protested over the summer. 

The county will expand a pilot program that replaces lead service lines for free to licensed childcare providers, and Bob Fioretti has announced he will run again for Cook County State’s Attorney. And a City Council committee will meet Monday to hold a hearing on Chicago’s Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Program and vote on dozens of other measures.

The City Council voted 36-12 on Thursday to expand paid leave for Chicago workers, granting workers five sick days and five paid time off days per year.

Supporters of the expanded paid leave measure held a news conference last week. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

The City Council will meet for the second time this week on Thursday to vote on a proposal to expand paid leave for Chicago workers.

Cook County Comm. Kevin Morrison (D-15) attends a county board meeting in September. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Cook County commissioners will consider a multimillion-dollar information security contract and hold a hearing on the safety of transgender residents during committee meetings Thursday.

Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa during Tuesday's City Council meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) narrowly avoided being censured by his colleagues on Tuesday, just one day after he resigned from his position as Mayor Brandon Johnson’s floor leader and the chair of the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards. 

The vote on whether to censure Ramirez-Rosa came during the same City Council meeting where Ald. Emma Mitts (37) publicly detailed how Ramirez-Rosa physically blocked her from coming into a special City Council meeting last week where alderpeople called for a vote on a proposal to ask voters if Chicago should remain a sanctuary city. Other members of the City Council, including Ald. Nicole Lee (11) and Ald. Felix Cardona (31), also said Ramirez-Rosa threatened to hold up zoning decisions in the wards if they attended last week’s special City Council meeting.

Ald. Maria Hadden (49) talked to Ald. Mike Rodriguez (22) during Tuesday's City Council Meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Alderpeople approved the Bring Chicago Home proposal to ask voters if they want to hike the real estate transfer tax and use the revenue to curb homelessness and delayed a vote on the proposal to expand paid leave for Chicago workers.

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas presents during a county budget hearing in October. [Livestream]

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ office is laying the blame for higher property tax bills this year at the feet of school districts, which have been large beneficiaries of a recent provision in state law, among other factors. 

The median residential tax bill in the north and northwest suburbs increased 15.7 percent in Tax Year 2022, which represents the largest percentage increase in at least 30 years, an analysis by the treasurer’s office found. The office said the cause of the higher tax bills were increased levies and a shift of the tax burden from commercial to residential property owners as a result of reassessments in the northern suburbs last year.