Mayor Lori Lightfoot and city finance and budget officials gave a forecast on the 2022 budget earlier this month.

The Kroll Bond Rating Agency on Tuesday upgraded Chicago’s general obligation debt from “negative” to “stable,” but analysts remained wary about effects of the COVID-19 Delta variant and the city’s reliance on “non-recurring revenue.” 

City officials may not directly raise money to pay off legal fees or else risk crossing the city’s ethics ordinance, a city board ruled Tuesday. [Stock]

City officials and employees are not allowed to directly raise money to pay off legal expenses unless the help is coming from “relatives or personal friends,” a city board ruled in an advisory opinion issued Tuesday.

Leaders of the venture behind the Lawndale Redefined development present their proposal during a news conference announcing request for proposal winners on Monday.

Four new mixed-use developments announced Monday are expected to bring more than 215 new homes, 40,000-square feet of commercial space and 900 jobs to the city’s South and West sides. 

Ald. Carrie Austin (34) in 2019. Austin is set to preside over a meeting of the City Council Committee on Contracting Oversight and Equity for the first time since she was indicted last month. [Heather Cherone/The Daily Line]

Aldermen are set on Monday to consider a proposal that would expand the city’s roster of registered minority-owned and women-owned construction businesses, allowing a wider range of firms to benefit from an evolving set of rules designed to prevent white-owned builders from dominating contracts with the city.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot prepares to receive her second COVID-19 vaccine from Dr. Allison Arwady in Chicago's Gage Park neighborhood on Feb. 19, 2021. [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]

This article was first published in Block Club Chicago.

All city workers will soon be required to get vaccinated against coronavirus, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday.

An Aug. 4 draft map of new Cook County commissioner districts (left) and the county’s “map room” [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]

The scramble to redraw Cook County’s 17 commissioner districts pushed closer to completion on Friday, as commissioners digested new block-level U.S. Census data that will help reshape their constituencies for the next decade. But the numbers added a fresh dose of uncertainty to the future of the county’s political landscape, especially in the county’s south suburbs, north shore suburbs and on Chicago’s Near Northwest Side.

Since the beginning of the year, Former Ald. Proco “Joe” Moreno (1) has filed dozens upon dozens of amendments to his campaign account in a comprehensive audit dating back to 2013, perplexing election officials and at least one political consultant who says he was falsely tagged in Moreno’s expense reports — all while the former alderman’s account’s balance is stuck at more than $100,000 in the red.

Cook County Health CEO Israel Rocha speaking at a vaccination event in March

The sprawling Cook County Health system will grow its budget by more than $500 million next year in anticipation of expanding safety net insurance coverage and a hiring spree for nurses and mental health staff under a budget plan being rolled out by county leaders this month.

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi speaking during a property tax forum in Pilsen on Monday [Maurico Peña/Block Club Chicago]

Local leaders and community groups in Pilsen are rushing to help landlords dispute a fresh round of property valuations they fear could set off a wave of tax hikes and displacement as a crucial deadline nears.

Chicago Department of Public Health Comm. Allison Arwady speaks during a news conference on Tuesday.

Beginning Friday, the city of Chicago will again require people to wear masks when inside public places, regardless of vaccination status, city officials announced on Tuesday.  

Members of the Chicago Aldermanic Black Caucus during an October 2019 news conference [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]

Chicago’s Aldermanic Black Caucus will look to the city’s 2022 budget to prioritize bringing more resources and regional development to the city’s South and West sides, according to the group’s leader. 

Businesses across the county have faced far sharper property tax hikes than homeowners have in recent years, according to a new report. [Cook County Treasurer]

Businesses and apartment buildings grew their share of Cook County’s property tax burden this year, especially in the parts of the county where property owners can least afford tax hikes, according to a report published by county Treasurer Maria Pappas on Tuesday.

Chicago Budget Director Susie Park speaking during a budget engagement forum last week

City budget officials were set on Monday to brief aldermen on the city’s finances for the second quarter of 2021 and review this year’s police budget as the city prepares to launch into the throes of the 2022 budget season. But city leaders canceled the meeting on Friday, punting on the hearing back for the third time this month.

Trammell Crow is proposing to build a two-tower mixed-use development in Fulton Market. 

Members of a new advisory Committee of Design met for the first time Wednesday to critique the layout and site plan of a proposed two-building mixed-use development in Fulton Market. 

The latest numbers from the Census Bureau show Chicago remains the country’s third largest city. Chicago’s public health commissioner said Lollapalooza does not appear to have been a COVID-19 “super-spreader” event.