Inspector General Deborah Witzburg speaks to City Club of Chicago on Aug. 26, 2025. [Livestream]

Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg addressed an audience at the City Club of Chicago on Tuesday, and she discussed her office’s recent investigations; the changing relationship between the mayor and City Council; the upcoming city budget fight and what guided her recent decision to step aside after a single term. 

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

The City Council Office of Financial Analysis (COFA) examined a proposal to tax vacant real estate to drum up new revenue for the city and potentially help alleviate the city’s affordable housing shortage.

A rendering of the proposed hotel development at 6402-6420 S. Stony Island Ave. [Stantec Architecture]

The Chicago Plan Commission met Thursday and approved an application to build a new hotel near the President Barack Obama presidential library campus on the South Side and nearby Metra rail renovations. 

Nate Hutcheson and Holly Burd speak to Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) and constituents at a ward event on Aug. 19, 2025 in Ukrainian Village. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

A new organization has popped up to educate Chicago’s residents about the push to institute a city charter, which some lawmakers and good government advocates argue could help alleviate many of the city’s most entrenched structural flaws.

The city’s civilian police oversight board has officially put out the call for applications from people interested in being the next leader of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA).

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

The City Council Office of Financial Analysis (COFA), the body tasked with independent analysis of the mayor’s proposed budget, proposed legislation and other fiscal matters, put out its own analysis of the city’s inaugural mid-year budget figures. It looked at potential ways for the city to save money and raise new funds while also evaluating recent city vacancies and overtime spending.

Mayor Brandon Johnson embraces a resident as he surveys flood damage on the Southwest Side on Aug 19, 2025. [Vashon Jordan Jr./Mayor's Office]

Mayor Brandon Johnson visited the Southwest Side on Tuesday, just days after flash floods hit the area and a day after six alderpeople representing some of the affected wards sent a letter to the mayor imploring him to deploy financial assistance to residents.

Speaking at the Gage Park fieldhouse alongside city leaders and City Council members, Johnson pledged to do just that but also called on the state and federal government to do their part. 

“We will continue to direct city resources to the affected areas to ensure that Chicagoans are not facing this crisis alone,” the mayor said. “Multiple city departments are engaged in this effort — the effort to clean up debris, clear away sewer backups, and then, of course, address safety hazards.”

Former Ald. Walter Burnett (27) is pictured at a City Council meeting on Jan. 15, 2025. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The committee tasked with recommending the next 27th Ward alderperson to Mayor Brandon Johnson will vet seven candidates for the job, including the former alderman’s son.

Renderings of Concourses D and E are pictured. [Provided by Chicago Department of Aviation]

Mayor Brandon Johnson joined officials across jurisdictions and leaders of airlines to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new Concourse D project at O’Hare International Airport, which will add 19 new gates to the airport.  

The Greater Lawn Health Center is pictured [OIG Audit Report photo]

The city’s public health department has been supporting people with mental illnesses in an equitable and considerate way across the city’s communities but could implement several changes to improve access to care, according to a report released last week by the Chicago Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

The Brief: 

The Bring Chicago Home proposal would keep the current real estate transfer tax rate at $3.75 per every $500 of transfer price for sales up to $1 million but would increase the rate to $13.25 per every $500 of the transfer price for sales over $1 million.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announces Invest in Cook grant awardees at the county building on Aug. 14, 2025. [President's Office]

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and the county Department of Transportation and Highways on Thursday announced $8.27 million in grant funding would be awarded to multiple organizations through the Invest in Cook program to fund myriad transportation projects.

Former Ald. Walter Burnett (27) is pictured at a City Council meeting on Jan. 15, 2025. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Mayor Brandon Johnson defended the change in one specific qualification standard for applicants to fill former 27th Ward Ald. Walter Burnett, Jr.’s seat on the City Council — a change that has been criticized as seeming to pave the way for Burnett’s son, Red Burnett, to be picked for the job.

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

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) released its proposed 2026 budget on Wednesday, which includes a plan to only reimburse the city for a pension payment the city makes on the district’s behalf to cover non-teacher staff if the state provides additional funding to CPS or if additional funding comes through by other means, such as the city’s declaration of a tax increment financing surplus.

Chicago Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski and Budget Director Annette Guzman speak with City Club CEO Dan Gibbons Tuesday. [Livestream]

The heads of the city’s budget and finance teams made the case for a more progressive tax system and other tax reforms as the means of alleviating the city’s ever-present budget gap.