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Friday, October 7, 2022

Term of the Week

budget seasonnoun


The four to six weeks during which the city takes stock of its finances, responsibilities and services, and makes a plan for how it will generate and spend money in the coming year. Coincides with pumpkin spice and spooky seasons.

Backstory: Traditionally, the city budget dropped in late October; alders were on the clock to approve it in time to avoid last-minute negotiations ruining their Thanksgiving dinners. Last year, Lightfoot introduced her 2022 budget proposal a whole month earlier than usual to give alders more time to agree on a new ward map by Dec. 1. While they passed that budget in record time, they ended up dragging out the redistricting process until May.

A Crash Course in Budget Season

A closer look at the nuts and bolts of local government and civic power. Today we’re kicking off a series on Chicago’s city budget process.

On Monday, Oct. 3, Mayor Lori Lightfoot unveiled her $16.4 billion proposal for Chicago’s 2023 budget. For people who follow the city budget process closely, this is sort of like when the highly anticipated season premiere of your favorite TV show finally drops.

But unless it’s your job, you probably wouldn’t choose to spend your time learning about the city budget. Our data shows Newswire readers are less likely to open an issue with “budget” in the subject line. So for this series, we’re trying something new: leaning on the time-honored tropes of soap operas and telenovelas to make this dense topic a little spicier. Budget season has it all: pathos, melodrama, memorable one-liners and over-the-top reaction shots (minus the “bevy of beauties with awfully obedient tear glands”).

Beyond the entertainment value, budget season is a moment of reckoning for city government. Over the month or so that budget season lasts (depending on how quickly the mayor and alders are able to compromise), you get a closer look at the city’s priorities and whether it’s putting its money where its mouth is (like solutions to housing insecurity), what it actually values enough to invest in (see: closure of safety net public mental health centers in favor of contracting with private providers) and if it’s actually doing a good job (i.e. tracking how much it spends on police misconduct settlements and litigation).

For October, we’ll be walking you through what’s in this year’s proposed budget and how the city generally goes about allocating its money, with nods to daytime television along the way. Here are four things you can expect from budget season:

1. COURTROOM COUNCIL CHAMBERS DRAMA 💼

Every city department (Chicago has over 30) must appear before alders to present its work over the past year and justify the funding it is requesting for the next (find the full hearing schedule here). In 2021, departmental budget hearings spanned the better part of each weekday for two weeks, not including behind-the-scenes adjustments and deals.

2. AN UNDERCURRENT OF DOOM 😱

Like many other government bodies, the City of Chicago has a budget deficit; it spends more money than it makes. Add that to debt and pension obligations and you have a showdown that the city is (probably?) not going to be able to avoid forever (right?).

3. A SLOW JAMS SOUNDTRACK 🎵

During breaks between different departmental hearings, the sound booth sets the mood with R&B, funk and soul throwback tracks. While we have not confirmed the elusive DJ’s identity, during last year’s budget hearings Alder Pat Dowell said, “I specifically want to thank my man Michael Smith up there and his great music.” 

On the playlist: “Good Morning” by John Legend, “I Feel for You” by Chaka Khan and “Let’s Groove” by Earth, Wind & Fire (listen to a sample from last year here).

4. A TICKING TIME BOMB 💣

City Council must approve a budget by Dec. 31, or else ... a lot of city functions would come to a stop.

Below, you’ll find a sneak peek at the budget hearings Documenters are covering next week, as well as one topic we’re watching for in each department. We’ll be back on Friday with a closer look at what is—and isn’t—in this year’s budget proposal. In the meantime, let us know: What are your 🔥 burning questions 🔥 about Chicago’s city budget?

Next Week

A selection of notable public meetings happening next week, organized by key topic. Looking for other past/upcoming public meetings and official records? Search our database—updated daily.
FINANCE

Chicago City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations 🔎 Departmental budget hearings

Day three of 12 | Tuesday, Oct. 11, 9 a.m.

Day four of 12 | Wednesday, Oct. 12, 9 a.m.

  • Are pet adoptions still up since the pandemic? Has Animal Care and Control wrangled any more exotic pets or alligators lurking in the Humboldt Park lagoon?

  • A year ago, a disparity study presented to City Council found that minority- and women-owned business enterprises (M/WBEs) still face significant disadvantages and discrimination when it comes to scoring construction contracts. What has the Department of Procurement Services done to better support M/WBEs?

  • In her 2020 budget, Lightfoot merged the city’s departments of Information Technology and Fleet and Facility Management into the Department of Assets, Information and Services. Has this cost-cutting measure come at the expense of technological advancement? 

Day five of 12 | Thursday, Oct. 13, 9 a.m.

  • How have policies like vehicular fines and fees reform (to alleviate the debt burden on low-income motorists) and lowering the speeding ticket threshold to six miles over the limit (to reduce car crash deaths) changed the Department of Administrative Hearings’ traffic court workload?

  • Census redistricting has caused voter confusion across the country. What will the Board of Elections do to help Chicagoans know where they’re voting in the November midterm and February municipal election?

  • A Sun-Times investigation found that the city was more likely to shut down bars and liquor stores where incidents of violence occurred if they were located on the South and West sides. Is the License Appeal Commission, which reviews appeals to reinstate liquor licenses, seeing this trend in their caseload?

  • How is the Resilient Communities cash-assistance pilot going? What is the Department of Family and Support Services’ long-term plan for guaranteed basic income? 

Day six of 12 | Friday, Oct. 14, 9 a.m.

  • How is the We Will Chicago citywide plan going to shape future Department of Planning and Development initiatives?

  • Will the Department of Streets and Sanitation really up its recycling game and go “all-in on composting”?
DEVELOPMENT

Community Development Commission 🔎 Commissioners will vote on whether to recommend that City Council create a tax increment financing (TIF) district around the Red Line to fund its extension southward to 130th St. | Tuesday, Oct. 11, 1 p.m.


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Local News
Key civic issues in the news this week.

Bobby Rush doesn’t have any regrets, man | Chicago Magazine

Central Illinois police training for mental health cases questioned, involuntary commitment issues remain | Invisible Institute and CU-CitizenAccess

The new 988 suicide prevention line shows promise in Illinois, but questions remain | Block Club Chicago, MindSite News and WBEZ

Stop being ‘combative,’ work with feds to end discrimination in city planning, South Side leaders tell Lightfoot administration | Block Club Chicago

Brave Space Alliance changes leadership; move to South Shore planned in 2024 | Hyde Park Herald

Founding father of Chicago recycling says city damaged his popular North Side center, but city says it was cleaning up | Chicago Tribune

West Side credit union gets closer to becoming reality | AustinTalks and Austin Weekly News
 


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Compiled by India Daniels. Edited by Sujay Kumar.

Documenters Newswire is designed for Chicagoans who want to make a difference in the life of their communities by connecting them with civic knowledge and opportunities. Each month we’ll choose a topic to share context and insight into the weekly public meetings that we cover. Our public meeting coverage is produced by hundreds of Chicago Documenters—people like you—who are trained and paid to build a new public record. 

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