Cook County commissioners on Tuesday repealed an official Forest Preserve District policy that guides how locations are named and renamed but delayed a County Business and Economic Development Committee vote on a measure to mitigate tax increases when commercial property owners install solar energy systems.

COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten and Police Board President Ghian Foreman address alderpeople on Tuesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

While little is proposed to change under the Chicago Police Board’s proposed 2024 budget, President Ghian Foreman used the board’s Tuesday budget hearing to argue against a push from the police union that represents rank and file officers to allow the most serious police disciplinary cases to be decided by independent arbitrators instead of the police board.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle delivers a 2024 county budget address Oct. 5, 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Board President Toni Preckwinkle proposed a $188.7 million budget for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County during a special board of commissioners meeting Tuesday morning. The proposed 2024 budget is $6.6 million higher than the previous fiscal year, an increase of 3.6 percent.

The budget includes a proposed corporate budget of $87.3 million, a $12.1 million increase from 2023, and $30.5 million dollars for the Brookfield Zoo and the Chicago Botanic Garden. The preserves plan to add more than 40 new positions, including a restoration hydrologist, ecology field supervisor, heavy equipment technician and employee recruitment manager.

The board president also celebrated the proposed budget for its pension contributions, which she said “finally” put the district’s pension fund on a path to full solvency.

BACP Comm. Ken Meyer answers questions during a hearing Tuesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

The expanded Office of Labor Standards under the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection plans to field additional complaints expected to come in now that the City Council has approved a measure to eliminate the subminimum wage for tipped workers, Comm. Ken Meyer told alderpeople during a budget hearing Tuesday. 

Alderpeople also pushed the department to more quickly revoke licenses for problematic businesses.  

The city’s Department of Assets, Information and Services would be disbanded into the Department of Technology and Innovation and the Department of Fleet and Facilities Management and alderpeople will get the chance to prod the proposed two separate budgets Wednesday.

Members of DCASE during last year’s budget hearing. [City of Chicago livestream]

During another packed day of departmental budget hearings, alderpeople on Wednesday will unpack the proposed budget increase for the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and the proposed decrease in funding for the Department of Planning and Development.  

Budget hearings are set to begin at 10 a.m. 

Cook County commissioners attend a Sept. 2023 board meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

During committee meetings Wednesday, Cook County commissioners will vote on measures to protect ballot access for non-English speakers and will hold hearings on veterans’ services and a pilot program aimed at attracting and retaining new employees.

The budget committee met Monday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

Several alderpeople were skeptical that the $150 million proposed to fund the migrant crisis in 2024 will be enough to cover the cost of shelter and other services for the entire year as they repeatedly asked budget officials why they’re relying on the state and federal governments to chip in additional migrant funding when neither seems likely. 

Mutiple alderpeople also renewed their yearslong push to add an additional staffer to their ward offices as constituents are expecting more of those offices.

The Forest Preserves of Cook County seal is pictured at a July 2023 district board of commissioners meeting. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

Board President Toni Preckwinkle will present her proposed 2024 budget for the Forest Preserves of Cook County during a special Forest Preserve Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday.

Preckwinkle’s address will follow regularly scheduled Forest Preserve district committee meetings and a regular Forest Preserve Board meeting. 

Deborah Witzburg during last year’s budget hearing. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

The first full day of Chicago departmental budget hearings will kick off Tuesday with a joint hearing of the Office of Inspector General, Civilian Office of Police Accountability, Chicago Police Board and the Board of Ethics.

Hearings are set to begin at 10 a.m. in City Council chambers.

Cook County Comm. Alma Anaya (D-7) attends Board President Toni Preckwinkle's 2024 budget address on Oct. 5, 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Cook County commissioners will vote on a measure to exclude solar energy systems from some property tax assessments and conduct a hearing on staffing at the Cook County Health and Hospitals System during committee meetings Tuesday.

For the second joint departmental budget hearing of the day, the License Appeal Commission and Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection will defend their proposed 2024 budgets.

Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday announced plans for the inaugural citywide composting program. Johnson will not be part of a delegation set to travel to the country’s southern border Tuesday. And the City Council approved the re-referral of dozens of new proposals on Monday. 

After tense discussions among the City Council and after Mayor Brandon Johnson ordered the main portion of the City Council’s public gallery cleared due to chants and yelling interrupting Friday’s meeting, the City Council approved a resolution introduced by Ald. Debra Silverstein (50), Chicago’s only Jewish alderperson, condemning Hamas’ attack on Israel.

Ald. Emma Mitts (37) attends Mayor Brandon Johnson's budget address on Oct. 11, 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line] 

Alderpersons heard about the city’s short- and long-term efforts to respond to historic flooding this past summer and mitigate future flood disasters during a joint meeting of the City Council Committee on Public Safety and Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy Friday.

The city’s West Side suffered a deluge of torrential rain over the Fourth of July weekend, flooding basements and causing severe damage to homes.