Aldermen will meet Tuesday to consider referendum questions proposed for the Feb. 28 ballot. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

The outcome of a key City Council committee meeting Tuesday is likely to determine which referendum questions get placed on the Feb. 28 municipal election ballot.

Aldermen will meet on Monday to discuss a proposed referendum to change the real estate transfer tax. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

The City Council will convene for a special meeting Monday to discuss a measure that would give voters the choice this February to raise the real estate transfer tax to help fund affordable housing and homelessness services.

Anjanette Young speaks during a meeting of the City Council Committee on Public Safety Thursday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

An ordinance originally proposed by a group of Black alderwomen to establish new rules for residential search warrants in Chicago following the police department’s wrongful raid of Anjanette Young’s home in 2019 did not pass out of a key council committee Thursday.

CTA President Dorval Carter Jr., right, speaks before the City Council Committee on Transportation and Public Way Thursday [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

Aldermen on Thursday conveyed their concerns about Chicago Transit Authority public safety, cleanliness and timeliness to CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. during a hearing before the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.

Chuy Garcia launched into the 2023 race for Chicago mayor Thursday. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

U.S. Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia officially announced his bid for mayor Thursday after spending weeks mulling a run to lead the city.

Ald. Sophia King (4) speaks during Wednesday’s education committee meeting. [City of Chicago livestream]

Aldermen during a committee meeting Wednesday scuttled a colleague’s proposal to require the head of Chicago Public Schools to attend quarterly hearings in front of aldermen.

From left, Comm. Sean Morrison (R-17), Matt Podgorski and Josina Morita. [Courtesy photos]

While almost all Democratic incumbents on the Cook County Board of Commissioners won reelection Tuesday, the board’s two Republican-held seats had close races to retain the small sliver of conservative representation on the board.

Aldermen are set to hold four committee meetings Thursday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Aldermen will convene for four committee meetings Thursday with a vote on proposed new rules for residential search warrants and a long-awaited hearing with CTA President Dorval Carter scheduled for morning meetings.

Voters approved a tax increase for the Cook County Forest Preserve District this election to shore up the district’s finances. [Facebook/Cook County Forest Preserve District]

Voters have elected to raise their own taxes to shore up funds for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and ease the district’s reliance on its reserves and reduce the likelihood of future budget holes.

The Clean Air, Clean Water, and Wildlife Habitat Protection Referendum, which raises the property tax rate for the forest preserves by one quarter of one tenth of a percent, or 0.025 percent, was approved Nov. 8 with about 67.6 percent of the voters voting “yes” as of 10:34 p.m. Tuesday.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is seen on Election Day during the 2022 primaries. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle declared victory Tuesday night in her campaign for a fourth term as the top executive in county government. By securing a fourth term, Preckwinkle is on track to become the longest serving board president since George Dunne, who served from 1969 to 1990.

In a statement issued Tuesday night, Preckwinkle said “I extend my deepest gratitude to the voters of Cook County and I’m grateful they have entrusted me to run the nation’s second-largest county in the country for the past twelve years, and look forward to all the good work that lies ahead.”

Ald. Sophia King (4) during Monday’s City Council meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Education and Child Development is set to meet for the second time this year on Wednesday.

Members of the City Council during Monday’s meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Aldermen during a City Council meeting Monday voted 32-18 to approve Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s 2023 spending plan. The vote occurred less than four months before the February municipal election where at least three aldermen are planning to challenge Lightfoot and all 50 City Council seats are up for election.

The official Cook County seal [file]

Will Cook County voters choose to raise their own taxes to help shore up funds for the county Forest Preserve District or decide instead to let it risk disrepair and budget tightness? Will county voters elect a predictably Democratic slate of candidates, or will any county races see shake-ups or surprises? Here’s a primer on what’s on the ballot in Cook County this Tuesday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot during her budget proposal speech in October. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s fourth and final budget of her first term in office will face a vote from the City Council on Monday.

The mayor introduced her $16.4 billion spending proposal last month and aldermen have spent the weeks since then grilling commissioners on their departments’ budget proposals and making their own proposed tweaks to the budget.

A new commission tasked with oversight of the Chicago Police Department issued its review of the department’s proposed budget Thursday.

The city’s new interim commission tasked with providing oversight of the Chicago Police Department on Thursday released a scathing review of the police department’s budget citing concerns that the department is not using its workforce to meet Chicago’s public safety needs.

The report also calls for more transparency in the budgeting process and raises concern over “untenable and unacceptable work conditions for Chicago police officers.”