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 (2012-2019)* | Inflation-adjusted Rate of Change (2012-2019)* | |
| Appropriations | $82,083,894 | $76,383,040 | -$5,700,854 | -6.95% | -2.8% | -3.7% |
| Positions & FTEs | 145 | 144 | -1 | -0.69% | 2.1% | NA |
*The version of DOIT created in then-mayor Emanuel’s 2012 budget was merged into AIS in the 2020 budget. Figures from the 2012-2019 era are used for the historical comparison here; appropriations since the re-establishment of DOTI as a standalone department in 2024 are discussed below.
- DOTI eliminated one funded position each from the Business Analyst, Senior Administrative Assistant, and Accountant positions, while adding a Senior Project Manager and a new Chief Operations Analyst position, for a net change of -1 full-time position.
- From February through September of 2025, the months for which the city released full-time position vacancy data, DOTI averaged a 43.6% vacancy rate, the highest among city departments. 51 of the department’s 145 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.
- DOTI’s largest single-category appropriation increase this year was in Centrex billings for the city’s legacy telephone system, up $6.9 million (277.7%) from the year prior.
- IT maintenance, the department’s largest expense, increased by $4.2 million, a 48.6% jump.
Historical Context
The standalone IT department that existed from 2012-2019 (DOIT) was expanded from a much smaller department in Rahm Emanuel’s first budget. During the Lightfoot administration, DOIT was merged with the Department of Fleet and Facilities Management (2FM) to create a new Department of Assets, Information and Services (AIS). Mayor Johnson undid the merger, creating a standalone information department, now renamed the Department of Technology and Information (DOTI).
From 2011-2019, the DOIT budget declined at an average annual rate of -2.8%, or -3.7% adjusted for inflation, while the revived version of the department has had slightly higher appropriations than the pre-2019 DOIT, and from 2024-2025 saw a 2.6% budget increase.
In 2024, the only year for which DOTI actuals are available, the department spent 83.9% of its locally-funded budget, compared to the 2024 citywide 89.6% local fund spend.
DOTI was re-established in 2024 with a budgeted 202 full-time positions, which dropped to 145 in the subsequent budget and to 144 in the 2026 proposal.
From February through September of 2025, the months for which the city released full-time position vacancy data, DOTI averaged a 43.6% vacancy rate, the highest among city departments.
51 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
DOTI eliminated one funded position each from the Business Analyst, Senior Administrative Assistant, and Accountant positions, while adding a Senior Project Manager and a new Chief Operations Analyst position, for a net change of -1 full-time position.
Appropriations
DOTI is 84.1% locally-funded in this year’s budget proposal, a substantial increase from the previous year’s 68.4%.
Corporate fund appropriations make up 68.6% of DOTI’s proposed 2026 budget, with federal grant funds the next-largest funding source at 15.9% of departmental appropriations.
| Fund | 2025 Budgeted | 2026 Proposed | Net Change from 2024 | Percent Change from 2025 | Percent of 2026 Appropriations |
| Corporate Fund | $43,610,808 | $52,388,064 | $8,777,256 | 20.1% | 68.6% |
| Federal Grant Fund | $25,952,000 | $12,125,000 | -$13,827,000 | -53.3% | 15.9% |
| Water Fund | $10,465,599 | $8,347,423 | -$2,118,176 | -20.2% | 10.9% |
| Vehicle Tax Fund | $907,939 | $1,380,280 | $472,341 | 52.0% | 1.8% |
| Sewer Fund | $453,280 | $772,404 | $319,124 | 70.4% | 1.0% |
| Chicago Midway Airport Fund | $68,906 | $757,420 | $688,514 | 999.2% | 1.0% |
| Chicago O’Hare Airport Fund | $336,557 | $273,352 | -$63,205 | -18.8% | 0.4% |
| Special Events and Municipal Hotel Operators’ Occupation Tax Fund | $18,969 | $160,281 | $141,312 | 745.0% | 0.2% |
| Tax Increment Financing Administration Fund | $78,806 | $100,545 | $21,739 | 27.6% | 0.1% |
| Library Fund | $191,030 | $78,271 | -$112,759 | -59.0% | 0.1% |
Largest Appropriations
DOTI’s largest expense category in the proposed 2026 budget is software maintenance and licensing, followed by salaries and wages on payroll.
Because the department is only partially locally funded, local fund actuals provide only a limited point of comparison between budgeted and real spend. In 2024, DOTI’s largest category of local fund spend was contracting, where the department expended 88.8% of budgeted funds, compared to 68.9% of local funds appropriated for personnel services.
Change from Previous Year
DOTI’s largest single-category appropriation increase this year was in Centrex billings for the city’s legacy telephone system, up $6.9 million (277.7%) from the year prior.
IT maintenance, the department’s largest expense, increased by $4.2 million, a 48.6% jump.
The department’s professional and technical services (outside contracting) appropriations declined $7.6 million (-60.5%)
