Table of Contents
Departmental Highlights
Snapshot: Appropriation & Staffing Changes from 2025 Budget
| 2025 Budgeted | 2026 Proposed | Net Change | Percent Change | Average Annual Rate of Change (2011-2025) | Inflation-adjusted Rate of Change (2011-2024) | |
| Appropriations | $352,858,177 | $348,306,542 | -$4,551,635 | -1.3% | 3.3% | 0.7% |
| Positions & FTEs | 2255 | 2204 | -51 | -2.3% | -0.9% | NA |
- DSS saw cuts to most of its appropriation categories. The largest cuts were a -$5 million (-10.5%) reduction to professional and technical services, the city’s outside contracting category, and -$4.3 million (-7.3%) to the waste disposal services appropriation.
- Payroll expenses were the only categories to see increased appropriations, particularly in a $3.2 million (26.3%) increase to overtime.
- In 2024, the most recent year for which complete actuals are available, DSS overspent slightly on personnel services, a broad category that includes salaries, overtime, and other payroll expenses. Much of the department’s savings came in the commodities category, where only 44.1% of appropriated funds were spent.
- A net decline of -51 positions at DSS was driven primarily by cuts to the General Laborer (-40 positions), Tree Trimmer (-9), and Pool Motor Truck Driver (-9) titles, although the latter is partially balanced by three new positions in the Motor Truck Driver title.
- Sanitation Laborer, the title accounting for the largest share of the department’s workforce, is up 16 budgeted positions, from 739 to 755.
Historical Context
The Department of Streets and Sanitation budget stayed relatively flat during both of Rahm Emanuel’s terms, following a roughly 270-position staffing reduction in his first budget. Appropriations began increasing sharply during Lori Lightfoot’s administration, accompanied by smaller but steady increases in budgeted positions.
Since 2011, the DSS budget has increased by an annual average of 3.3%, or 0.7% adjusted for inflation, compared to a citywide average rate of 8.3% (inflation-adjusted 4.4%).
Over the past three complete budget years for which local fund actuals/encumbrances data is available, DSS spent on average 94.1% of its budget, compared to the citywide average 86.4% local fund spend.
Budgeted positions at DSS have increased at an average annual rate of 3.3% since 2011, compared to a citywide -0.1% rate of change.
From February through September of 2025, the months for which the city released full-time position vacancy data, DSS averaged an 8.4% vacancy rate, compared to the citywide average of 11.2%.
31 of the department’s budgeted full-time positions were persistent vacancies, meaning that the same title/division/section/subsection combination was vacant for all eight months of available data.
Staffing
A net decline of -51 positions at DSS was driven primarily by cuts to the General Laborer (-40 positions), Tree Trimmer (-9), and Pool Motor Truck Driver (-9) titles, although the latter is partially balanced by three new positions in the Motor Truck Driver title.
The department also saw smaller cuts across a number of titles, including two or one position reductions in Hoisting Engineer, Forestry Supervisor, and Sanitation Clerk titles, as well as various administrative and analytical positions.
Sanitation Laborer, the title accounting for the largest share of the department’s workforce, is up 16 budgeted positions, from 739 to 755.
Appropriations
DSS is almost completely locally-funded in this year’s budget proposal, as in the previous year, with less than 1% of its budget grant-funded.
The corporate fund makes up the largest share of DSS’s appropriations, with substantial smaller portions appropriated from the garbage collection, vehicle tax, and motor fuel tax funds.
| Fund | 2025 Budgeted | 2026 Proposed | Net Change from 2024 | Percent Change from 2024 | Percent of 2026 Appropriations |
| Corporate Fund | $205,489,861 | $216,367,395 | $10,877,534 | 5.3% | 62.1% |
| Garbage Collection Fund | $73,463,388 | $61,741,731 | -$11,721,657 | -16.0% | 17.7% |
| Vehicle Tax Fund | $52,099,583 | $51,392,071 | -$707,512 | -1.4% | 14.8% |
| Motor Fuel Tax Fund | $18,805,345 | $15,805,345 | -$3,000,000 | -16.0% | 4.5% |
| Federal Grant Fund | $3,000,000 | $3,000,000 | $0 | 0.0% | 0.9% |
Largest Appropriations
As with most departments, salaries and wages make up the largest appropriation for DSS. Waste disposal services and other outside contracting expenses (professional and technical services) are the next-largest cost categories. Overtime is also a significant DSS appropriation.
As an almost entirely locally-funded department, DSS’s local fund actuals make a reliable point of comparison for its budgeted spend. Over the past three years for which actuals are available, DSS stayed very close to budget, spending on average 94.1% of its local fund budgets.
In 2024, the most recent year for which complete actuals are available, DSS overspent slightly on personnel services, a broad category that includes salaries, overtime, and other payroll expenses. Because the appropriation categories used in the 2022-2024 actuals datasets from the Department of Finance do not correspond exactly to the appropriation accounts used in the budgets presented by the Office of Budget and Management, an exact line-by-line comparison of real spend to budget is not possible. Much of the department’s savings came in the commodities category, where only 44.1% of appropriated funds were spent.
Change from Previous Year
DSS saw cuts to most of its appropriation categories. The largest cuts were a -$5 million (-10.5%) reduction to professional and technical services, the city’s outside contracting category, and -$4.3 million (-7.3%) to the waste disposal services appropriation.
Payroll expenses were the only categories to see increased appropriations, particularly in a $3.2 million (26.3%) increase to overtime.
