2025 Budget Blog

Following the success of last year’s Budget Blog, which provided a relatively succinct way to communicate with residents about the complicated topic of the City Budget, 1st Ward Staff are once again maintaining a blog about the budget.

Due to the ongoing projected budget gaps faced by the City, the narrow vote associated with the 2025 Budget, and the feedback of 1st Ward residents about the City’s financial situation, the 2025 Budget Blog will run throughout the year.

The original budget content is featured lower on the page, and the newer budget content will be placed near the top of the page.

Updated Budget Blog: Where do we go from here? Pensions and Budget History

Workforce Vacancy Data (April 22, 2025)
In a laudable practice that improves governmental transparency, the Office of Budget and Management is now publishing workforce vacancy data. Thus far, their updates suggest they will publish these data on a monthly basis. These data are available at the Chicago Data Portal, and with minimal coding (and tests for data validity) the vacancy data can be compared with the positions as approved in the final 2025 Budget Ordinance.

The most recent budget blogs study the initial February release of the workforce vacancy data, in order to gain a basic understanding of workforce vacancies by fund. There are some very important takeaways:

  • Despite housing the majority of City employees, the Corporate Fund is outperforming all other funds in terms of vacancy issues.

  • Within the Corporate Fund, the following departments’ vacancies may require more scrutiny: Public Safety Administration; Public Health; Transportation; Fleet and Facility Management: Civilian Office of Police Accountability; Technology and Innovation; Planning and Development; and the Board of Election Commissioners.

  • The City’s Grant Funds have the highest vacancy percentage (42.7%) of non-Corporate funds, while the Enterprise Funds have the most positions and a high vacancy percentage (24%, compared to 17% for the Corporate Fund).

  • Vacancies across grant, special revenue, and enterprise funds should be scrutinized for their direct impact on the City’s business-like functions (airports, sewer, water), public safety communications, and social services.

What is Debt? (February 7, 2025)
Over the last five years, the City has substantially lowered its total debt service owed. This debt service typically has governmental functions, like infrastructure, and business-like functions, like airports, sewer, and water functions. This blog surveys the shape of the City’s debt over the last five years, discusses the infrastructure assets that cover the debt, and questions what lower debt service owed could mean for infrastructure investment

Budget Comparison: From 2004 to 2025 (February 7, 2025)
On the City’s 2025 Budget Forecast, the City outlines nearly three decades of pension payments. The year 2004 marked one of eleven consecutive years (2004 - 2014) in which the City’s pension contribution struggled to keep pace with inflation, let alone its required funding ratio. The shape of government was also quite different in 2004: the City seemingly implemented fewer grants, and also had a different balance between its infrastructure services departments. In 2025, by comparison, infrastructure services shifted balance toward a focus on Aviation (including projects such as airport modernization), which departments like Streets & Sanitation appear to comprise a smaller percentage of governmental appropriations. This blog includes a 30,000 foot overview of both budgets, and concludes that further studies of the City’s infrastructure services are needed, to assess how those services have changed over time.

Archived: March 12, 2025

For page management purposes, the following content has been archived into a single document:

  • Infrastructure bond analysis (February City Council vote)

  • City Treasurer Statement (February 7, 2025)

Archived: April 22, 2025

For page management purposes, the following content has been archived into a single document:

  • Chicago Public Schools pension payment update

  • Reading pension documents


Original Budget Blog: Published in autumn 2024 for the 2025 Budget Season

Following the success of last year’s Budget Blog, which provided a relatively succinct way to communicate with residents about the complicated topic of the City Budget, 1st Ward Staff are once again maintaining a blog about the budget.

Departmental Hearings
2025 departmental hearings will kick off on Wednesday, November 6. This year, Ald. La Spata is committing to highlighting at least one 1st Ward resident’s question during his second round of questioning (5 min). Submit any questions you may have to info@the1stward.com. Click here to view the daily lineup of departmental hearings. Each hearing will be livestreamed via the Office of the City Clerk’s website.

Prior to a department’s hearing, Ald. La Spata sends “through the Chair” (TTC) letters with data specific questions, which gives the department time to find the data and doesn’t cut into the Alderman’s time during his round of questioning. You can learn more about TTC letters and review 2025 letters here.

Structural Vacancies (November 7, 2024)

For each Committee on Budget and Government Operations hearing, each department provides a budget book that includes specific human resources, employment, and vacancy information. 1st Ward staff studied vacancies between 2024 and 2025 departmental books, and found 292 vacancies that may have appeared in both the 2024 proposal and 2025 proposal. These positions cost nearly $24 million in the Corporate Fund, which is where the City’s budget gap is. Yet, studying these positions is not simply important to consider cutting persistent vacancies: it also demonstrates where vacancies could hurt the City, in everything from public safety investigative positions to technology development and procurement positions that could boost the City’s economy.

Finance General (November 7, 2024)

One of the largest lines in the entire budget is the Finance General category. This is a type of catch-all account for many different types of personnel costs for the City. The good news for the 2025 gap is that the City has reduced the Corporate Fund “Finance General” line by approximately $300 million. However, there remain some large lines in this aspect of the budget that Alderman La Spata and staff are continuing to scrutinize.

Applying Budget Forecast Improvements to Future Budgets (November 1, 2024)

Between the publication of the 2025 Budget Forecast and the 2025 Budget Overview & Recommendations, the City found improvements in its forecasted revenue projections and also clarified the extent to which additional pension payments were included in the forecasted budget gap. The next Budget Blog demonstrates these improvements, and compares these improved assumptions with the 3-year outlook originally published in the 2025 Forecast.

Mayor’s Budget Address (October 30, 2024)

The City’s Budget books are live:

Chicago’s 2025 budget proposes 744 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) positions cut. This document lists the top line cuts per department.

The City of Chicago’s 2025 budget has been published, and 1st Ward staff are highlighting key aspects. Significant investments are planned for public safety ($213.6 million), community and gender-based violence prevention, mental health, and youth employment, although specific funding sources are not always clear. To close the $5.6 billion corporate fund gap, measures include projected savings, efficiencies, and a substantial $300 million property tax increase intended to relieve pension subsidies. Additional analysis to come.

What does the revenue forecast say about the economy? (October 28, 2024)

Prior to the expected release of the Budget on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, let’s take one more look at the 2025 Forecast. By looking at historical data, 2024 collections, and the 2025 forecast, it is possible to assess the City’s expected outlook for the economy in the next year. In this case, a negative forecast expectation for Chicago may be exacerbating the City’s expected budget gap.

What is the Budget Gap? (October 22, 2024)

The published budget gap in the 2025 Budget Forecast is nearly $1 billion, which is quite a daunting figure. Yet, two years ago the City forecast was much less extreme, with a forecasted 2025 gap of approximately $550 million. While that number is not small, it’s much less than the current gap. What changed in two years? This budget blog tackles some of the line items forecasted by the City, to show how Alderman La Spata and the 1st Ward staff form budget priorities. This blog discusses issues and forecasts related to pensions, projected Building Permit and Business License fees, and services for our new arrivals seeking asylum.

You can read more here, and with the City’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports and Budget Forecast documents for 2023 and 2025: