Snapshot: Appropriation & Staffing Changes from 2023 Budget
| 2023 Budgeted | 2024 Proposed | Net Change | Percent Change | |
| Appropriations | $771,041,777 | $783,933,719 | $12,891,942 | 1.7% |
| Positions & FTEs | 5145 | 5148 | 3 | 0.1% |
Departmental Highlights
- The Chicago Fire Department is the city’s second-largest operating department by number of budgeted positions. Several other departments appropriate more funds, particularly since the addition of federal pandemic relief funds in the 2021 budget and onwards; as of 2023 CFD had the sixth-largest operating budget among city departments.
- Overall budgeted headcount is up 3 positions in CFD’s 2024 budget, with a large number of title changes and position shifts. EMT positions across a number of titles are up a net of 114 budgeted positions, while non-EMT/paramedic firefighter positions are down a net of 50 budgeted positions.
- CFD is one of the most personnel-heavy departments, with more than two-thirds of its budget dedicated solely to salaries and wages on payroll. Nearly all of the largest appropriations in the CFD budget are salary or benefit related. Of the top 10 CFD appropriations, only professional and technical services (10% of the budget at $78.3m) and tort/non-tort judgements (1.5% of the budget at $12m) are non-personnel appropriations.
- CFD’s budget for outside contracting through the professional and technical services appropriation saw the largest single-appropriation increase from 2023, up 18.2% to $78.3 million in the 2024 budget.
- Salaries and wages on payroll, CFD’s largest overall appropriation, is down very slightly from the 2023 budget, a -0.2% reduction to $530.6m.
Historical Context
The Chicago Fire Department is the city’s second-largest operating department by number of budgeted positions. Several other departments appropriate more funds, particularly since the addition of federal pandemic relief funds in the 2021 budget and onwards; as of 2023 CFD had the sixth-largest operating budget among city departments.
From 2011-2023, the department budget grew at an average rate of 3.6% per year. Departmental budgets overall increased an average of 5.9% per year over the same time period, while the total city budget including Finance General appropriations grew at an average rate of 8.2% annually.
The department’s budgeted workforce has remained extremely consistent over the past 12 years, with an annual average decline of -0.1% in budgeted positions from 2011-2023. This matches closely with the city’s overall staffing changes, which have also remained relatively flat across the same time period, with minor year-to-year fluctuations averaging out to an overall growth rate of -0.04%.
The proposed 2024 budget increases CFD’s budget by 1.7%, less than the department’s historical average but slightly greater than the city’s overall 1.3% budget growth from 2023 to 2024.
Staffing
Overall budgeted headcount is up 3 positions in CFD’s 2024 budget, with a large number of title changes and position shifts.
EMT positions across a number of titles are up a net of 114 budgeted positions, while non-EMT/paramedic firefighter positions are down a net of 50 budgeted positions.
Appropriations
Largest Appropriations
CFD is one of the most personnel-heavy departments, with more than two-thirds of its budget dedicated solely to salaries and wages on payroll. Nearly all of the largest appropriations in the CFD budget are salary or benefit related. Of the top 10 CFD appropriations, only professional and technical services (10% of the budget at $78.3m) and tort/non-tort judgements (1.5% of the budget at $12m) are non-personnel appropriations.
Change from Previous Year
CFD’s budget for outside contracting through the professional and technical services appropriation saw the largest single-appropriation increase from 2023, up 18.2% to $78.3 million in the 2024 budget.
Salaries and wages on payroll, CFD’s largest overall appropriation, is down very slightly from the 2023 budget, a -0.2% reduction to $530.6m.
