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.

Budget hearings on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed 2024 spending plan will kick off Monday, but not until after the City Council holds its fourth meeting in a week’s time to finally shake free from the rules committees dozens of proposals sent there earlier this month. 

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

Members of the public and stakeholders in various organizations that have benefited from county programs participated in public hearings Thursday to call for continued funding for those programs, including ones with limited one-time allocations. 

The public hearings took place during meetings of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Finance Committee. 

Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) oversees Thursday’s meeting of the zoning committee. [City of Chicago livestream]

The City Council Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards delayed votes on large development proposals on Thursday.

The City Council will hold a special meeting Friday. A joint committee hearing on the city’s response to flooding is also set for Friday. And the council’s ethics committee on Thursday discussed previously published reports by the Office of Inspector General.

Mayor Brandon Johnson proposed his first budget Wednesday. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Mayor Brandon Johnson is proposing a $16.6 billion spending plan for 2024 with plans to forgo a property tax increase, create a standalone Department of Environment and provide funding to begin reopening city mental health clinics. 

Johnson’s budget proposal includes $150 million to support migrants and a proposal to disband the Department of Assets, Information and Services in favor of two separate departments — the Department of Technology and Innovation and the Department of Fleet and Facility Management. 

The mayor proposed his first-ever budget Wednesday, telling City Council members and Chicagoans his spending plan will “ensure that every resident of this City can thrive in peace and prosperity, connected to all the amenities and resources they need.”