Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle gives her 2024 budget address on Oct. 5, 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle introduced a $9.89 billion budget proposal for 2025 in an address during a special meeting of the board Thursday. 

The proposed budget would be 6.8 percent higher than the $9.26 billion budget approved last year and does not raise taxes, fines or fees. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson takes press questions on Wednesday. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council on Wednesday approved one of two major bond refinancing measures that are aimed at helping get the city’s budget gap under control, with the second one being delayed until the next council meeting at the earliest.

The council also approved a measure to cut the number of items subject to Plan Commission, Community Development Commission review and a measure to allow Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) alternate members to serve in vacant spots on the board.

From left, Alds. Angela Clay, Jeanette Taylor, Maria Hadden, Nicole Lee and Gilbert Villegas speak at a council meeting on Wednesday. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Alderpeople canceled a special City Council meeting that was planned for Wednesday to host outgoing and incoming members of the Chicago Board of Education.

Cook County released a report on a survey it took of residents’ environmental policy concerns, and the county treasurer said property tax delinquencies rose in the south suburbs following “record” tax bill spikes earlier this year.

Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a City Council meeting in April 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council will meet on Wednesday at 10 a.m. to consider final approval of two major bond refinancing ordinances recently passed by the finance committee that are key to the city getting its budget shortfall under control.

Alderpeople have also called for two special meetings in the afternoon — one that covers the shakeup at the Chicago Board of Education and another that represents the latest effort to save the city’s recently decommissioned acoustic gunshot detection technology ShotSpotter.

Ald. Timmy Knudsen (43) is pictured at a City Council meeting in November 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council’s zoning committee approved a measure on Tuesday intended to shore up Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) membership when there’s empty posts.

Mayor Brandon Johnson holds a news conference after unveiling six new Board of Education appointments at Sweet Holy Spirit Church on Oct. 7, 2024. [Livestream]

Mayor Brandon Johnson made an impassioned defense of his executive authority at a combative news conference Monday morning after he unveiled six new school board nominees just three days after the entire seven-member Chicago Board of Education announced it would resign.

Despite a statement on Friday that said seven new board appointments would be announced on Monday, the mayor traveled to Sweet Holy Spirit Church on the South Side and announced he had nominated six people to the board.

The Cook County Board President’s budget proposal for 2025 will be unveiled this week, and the City Council zoning committee will consider a measure intended to shore up Zoning Board of Appeals membership when there’s empty posts.

Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a City Council meeting on Sept. 18, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

A supermajority of the City Council called for hearings after last week's news that the entire Chicago Board of Education will step down this month after weeks of tumult over the future of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Pedro Martinez, who said he was asked by Mayor Brandon Johnson to resign over disagreements about the school district’s finances. At least 41 of the 50 members of the City Council signed on to a letter that says the news was "unprecedented and brings further instability to our school district."

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

The City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations will meet Monday morning and consider the appropriation of federal health department grant funds, and the Committee on License and Consumer Protection will vote on an ordinance to regulate pedicabs. Also, the police and fire committee will meet to consider an ordinance that provides bereavement leave for Chicago firefighters following a uniformed service member’s death.

The budget committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. in council chambers at City Hall, and the license and consumer protection committee will meet at 11 a.m. in Room 201A. The police and fire committee meets at 1 p.m. also in 201A.

Democrat Eileen O’Neill Burke and Republican Bob Fioretti are competing to become the next Cook County State’s Attorney. [O’Neill Burke photo by Michael McDevitt/Fioretti campaign photo]

Although Eileen O’Neill Burke is favored to win the Cook County State’s Attorney race in a county that regularly votes for Democrats, the former judge told The Daily Line she’s not taking anything for granted as polls open countywide.

Early voting began in Chicago Thursday and begins in suburban Cook County next week, and former Ald. Bob Fioretti is hoping his appeals to law enforcement, crime victims and suburbanites spooked by Chicago violence leads to an upset in the race to replace State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.

City Hall is pictured in this file photo. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Finance approved two significant bond transactions Wednesday that are aimed at helping the city address big budget holes by reducing its debt service and increasing cash flow savings.

The Committee on Public Safety holds a hearing on ways to improve the city's extreme weather response plan on Oct. 1, 2024. [Livestream]

The City Council’s public safety committee held a hearing Tuesday on some policy solutions to increase the safety of unhoused and low-income Chicagoans during extreme heat and cold.

The housing committee meets on Oct. 1, 2024. [Livestream]

The City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate approved an ordinance Tuesday in line with Mayor Brandon Johnson’s “Cut the Tape” Initiative, which seeks to speed up housing and commercial development by eliminating some processes and reducing other bureaucracy and requirements.

Housing Chair Byron Sigcho-Lopez is pictured during a City Council meeting on Sept. 18, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate will vote on an ordinance Tuesday that would advance Mayor Brandon Johnson’s “Cut the Tape” Initiative, which seeks to speed up housing and commercial development by eliminating some processes and reducing other bureaucracy and requirements.

The housing committee will meet at 10:30 a.m. in Room 201A at City Hall.