Streets and Sanitation Comm. Cole Stallard attends a budget hearing on Nov. 20, 2024. [Livestream]

The city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS) presented a largely flat budget proposal for the 2025 fiscal year at a Committee on Budget and Government Operations hearing Wednesday. 

DSS handles trash collection, street sweeping, rodent abatement, towing of illegally parked cars, graffiti removal and tree trimming.

Mayor Brandon Johnson delivers his 2025 budget address on Oct. 30, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday the property tax hike proposed in next year’s budget had been reduced by $150 million as a result of ongoing negotiations with members of the City Council. The announcement came days after alderpeople unanimously voted down the mayor’s proposed $300 million increase.

Leaders of the Chicago Fire Department answer budget questions during a hearing on Nov. 19, 2024. [Livestream]

The Chicago Fire Department (CFD) defended its proposed 2025 budget before the City Council’s budget committee on Tuesday, addressing overtime costs and its vehicle replacement schedule.

Ald. William Hall (6) attends a City Council meeting on Oct. 9, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Ald. William Hall (6) plans to put forth an ordinance that would regulate and tax hemp-derived products and the businesses that sell them in the city while also attempting to keep currently unregulated intoxicating hemp-derived products out of children’s hands. 

“Our role as a city is to identify it, say it's present, say that it's here and to say we want to make sure that it's safe but also get our fair share of sustainable revenue,” Hall told The Daily Line last week. “It's a black market of upwards of close to $400 million annually.”

Police Supt. Larry Snelling answers questions at a budget hearing Nov. 15, 2024. [Livestream]

The Chicago Police Department (CPD) defended its budget Friday before the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations, and the superintendent addressed proposed cuts to its constitutional policing office and mental health clinician positions.

Next year, CPD’s budget is set to rise from $2.03 billion this year to $2.09 billion next year. The department’s budget is 86.6 percent funded by the city’s Corporate Fund. Next year, the department is set to lose 456 vacant positions. Contractual services will be down next year 84 percent after rising due to expenses for the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC), Illinois Department of Transportation license plate readers and and grant reductions, according to Janice Oda-Gray, chief administrative officer of the Council Office of Financial Analysis. 

“We're going to keep broadening the resources available to our officers, so that they can best serve the people of Chicago,” Police Supt. Larry Snelling said in his opening remarks to the committee. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a City Council meeting on Oct. 9, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council voted down Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $300 million property tax increase proposal at a special meeting Thursday, meaning the city will have to find other ways to close a $982.4 million budget gap.

“I will negotiate the details of this budget, but I will not negotiate my values,” the mayor said Thursday. “Too many past budgets have left the people of Chicago behind, and I'm determined to chart a new course.”

Eileen O'Neill Burke addresses supporters at Moe's Cantina in River North after winning the state's attorney election on Nov. 5, 2024. [Provided]

Eileen O’Neill Burke, the former Illinois Appellate Court justice who will be sworn in as the next Cook County State’s Attorney next month, announced three key members of her transition team on Thursday.

Ald. Samantha Nugent (39) asks Budget Director Annette Guzman questions during a budget hearing on Nov. 6, 2024. [Livestream]

As the mayor and City Council negotiate alternatives to a $300 million property tax increase to balance the city’s budget and plug a $982.4 million gap, the prospect of repurposing federal pandemic relief funds could be back on the table.

Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a City Council meeting on Oct. 9, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

With most of the City Council prepared to vote down Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $300 million property tax increase proposal, nearly all budget committee hearings on the mayor’s 2025 spending plan were canceled until early next week as the administration seeks alternative ways to close a nearly billion-dollar budget gap. 

Ald. Pat Dowell (3) asks interim OPSA Executive Director Frank Lindbloom questions during a budget hearing Nov. 12, 2024. [Livestream]

The Chicago Office of Public Safety Administration on Tuesday defended the size of its budget against alderpeople who argued that its promises to promulgate cost savings for the city hasn’t panned out.

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg answers question from Ethics Chair Matt Martin, 47th Ward alderperson, during budget hearings on Nov. 9, 2024. [Livestream]

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has cut three percent of its non-personnel budget and slashed three vacancies in doing its part to help close Chicago’s nearly $1 billion budget gap heading into 2025, alderpeople were told Saturday. 

Department of Buildings Comm. Marlene Hopkins answers questions from Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25) about staffing cuts and vacancies on Nov. 7, 2024. [Livestream]

The mayor’s “Cut the Tape” initiative, which aims to speed up the time it takes to get residential and commercial developments completed by cutting unnecessary city bureaucratic processes, is paying off with shorter permit processing times, alderpeople were told during the Department of Buildings’ budget hearing Thursday evening.

Staff from the Chicago Department on Cultural Affairs and Special Events attend a budget hearing on Nov. 8, 2024. [Livestream]

Alderpeople questioned staff from the Department on Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) on Friday about how the department could work toward securing additional revenue for the city as most of the council searches for options to avoid a proposed property tax increase from the mayor.

The Chicago Department of Public Health presents its budget to alderpeople on Nov. 7, 2024. [Livestream]

The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) has a glut of pandemic-era grant dollars funding multiple programs and hundreds of positions but is still figuring out how to keep some of those programs and positions going once that funding runs out, alderpeople heard during a budget hearing Thursday.

The Committee on Budget and Government Operations holds the first round of budget hearings on Nov. 6, 2024. [Livestream]

City Council hearings on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed $17.3 billion 2025 budget began Wednesday with council members hearing from the leaders of Johnson’s budget and finance team on the budgets for the mayor’s office, budget office and finance department. 

During the hours-long hearing on Wednesday, some on the council budget committee questioned the Johnson administration’s proposal to hike property taxes to avoid layoffs and a reduction in services, saying he should have considered cuts instead.