Mayor Brandon Johnson released his proposed 2026 budget for the City of Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 16. As in previous years, BGA Policy will release a series of department-specific budget snapshots ahead of the departmental budget hearings in City Council.
The following is a preliminary summary of the overall budget and some of its major highlights.
Table of Contents
Budget Snapshot:
| 2025 Budgeted | 2026 Proposed | Net Change | Percent Change | Average Annual Rate of Change (2011-2025) | Inflation-adjusted Rate of Change (2011-2024) | |
| Appropriations | $18,842,061,980 | $18,350,767,715 | -$491,294,265 | -2.6% | 8.3% | 4.4% |
| Positions & FTEs | 36,203 | 35,760 | -443 | -1.2% | -0.1% | NA |
Highlights
Revenue Highlights
- The budget as presented is not balanced by estimated revenues in its local funds, with $169.3 million more appropriated from local funds than estimated in revenue. (This does not mean the budget as a whole is not balanced, only that appropriations from local funds are not matched by estimated revenues into local funds.)
- Estimated local revenues are up $832.9 million from the previous year’s estimates, a 6.2% bump driven primarily by increases in estimated corporate fund and airport funds revenues, as well as a new $100 million “Community Safety Fund” drawn from a revived corporate head tax.
- Roughly half of the city’s estimated revenues come from five major sources: rates and charges, the property tax levy, lease of personal property (the “cloud tax”), water rates, and the corporate fund pension allocation. The lease of personal property category saw the largest increase, with cloud service tax hikes expected to bring in an additional $334 million, up 40.8% from the previous year.
Appropriations Highlights
- Appropriations overall are down -2.6% from the budget as passed in 2025, the first year-over-year appropriations decline since 2023.
- The Chicago Police Department continues to be the largest city department by far, accounting for 20.5% of all departmental appropriations and 31.5% of all local fund departmental appropriations, and 38.6% of all budgeted positions/FTEs.
- CPD was also the only department to go consistently over budget in non-grant funds in the past three years for which complete data is available, 2022-2024.
- The proposed $2 billion CPD budget for 2026 falls $151.3 million short of CPD’s actual and encumbered spend from 2024, the most recent year for which complete actuals/encumbrances are available.
- The Department of Water Management, Department of Aviation, and Department of Environment saw the largest proposed budget increases, while the Chicago Department of Public Health, Department of Family and Support Services, and Chicago Department of Transportation saw the largest proposed cuts.
Positions and Vacancies Highlights
- Budgeted positions and FTEs are down -1.2%, the second year in a row of declining budgeted city workforce.
- As of the most recently available vacancies data at the end of September 2025, 11.6% of budgeted positions were vacant, with 7.3% of positions vacant since February 2025, the first month for which detailed vacancies data is available.
- The Chicago Department of Public Health, Chicago Public Library, and Department of Streets and Sanitation were among the departments with the largest reductions in force for the second year running, continuing an ongoing reduction in force at those departments.
- The Department of Environment saw a substantial proposed overhaul and expansion in this year’s budget recommendations, growing from $2.4 million in appropriations to $52.4 million and from 14 budgeted positions to 79.
Mandatory Budget Floors
- As in previous years, departmental appropriations for the three city departments with mandatory funding minimums (OIG, COPA, and CCPSA) are not on their own sufficient to meet the minimum budget floors. Instead, the city’s budget office counts an additional estimated “fringe” cost of pension and benefits towards the mandatory minimums (but does not include fringe in the CPD appropriations used as the basis for calculating the COPA and CCSPA floors).
Revenues
Beginning during the 2024 budget process, the city’s budget office has made a dataset of estimated local fund revenues available in addition to the appropriations and positions datasets. The dataset does not include grants.
The budget as presented is not balanced by estimated revenues in the local funds, with $169.3 million more appropriated from local funds than estimated in revenue. The following funds have appropriations in excess of estimated revenues in the 2026 budget recommendations data:
| Fund Name | Total Estimated Revenue | Total Recommended Appropriations from Fund | Difference |
| Neighborhoods Opportunity Fund | $8,349,694 | $67,003,220 | -$58,653,526 |
| Motor Fuel Tax Fund | $129,995,559 | $147,770,259 | -$17,774,700 |
| Foreign Fire Insurance Tax Fund | $8,230,000 | $25,309,000 | -$17,079,000 |
| Sewer Fund | $437,646,334 | $452,161,145 | -$14,514,811 |
| Local Impact Fund | $395,145 | $12,851,032 | -$12,455,887 |
| Water Fund | $921,572,538 | $930,815,769 | -$9,243,231 |
| Citywide Adopt-a-landmark Fund | $395,145 | $9,441,375 | -$9,046,230 |
| Library Fund | $136,446,165 | $144,443,777 | -$7,997,612 |
| Emergency Communication Fund | $168,460,413 | $175,385,234 | -$6,924,821 |
| Houseshare Surcharge – Homeless Services Fund | $8,365,518 | $12,165,518 | -$3,800,000 |
| Opioid Settlement Fund | $8,400,000 | $11,316,525 | -$2,916,525 |
| Cannabis Regulation Tax | $4,667,417 | $7,500,000 | -$2,832,583 |
| Houseshare Surcharge – Domestic Violence Fund | $4,182,759 | $6,182,759 | -$2,000,000 |
| Vaping Settlement Fund | $108,675 | $1,743,321 | -$1,634,646 |
| Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Fund | $8,085,650 | $9,382,043 | -$1,296,393 |
| Cable Local Origination Fund | $500,000 | $1,479,545 | -$979,545 |
| Construction and Demolition Debris Management Fund | $387,751 | $520,911 | -$133,160 |
| Controlled Substances Fund | $62,560 | $100,000 | -$37,440 |
Overall, estimated local revenues are up $832.9 million from the previous year’s estimates, a 6.2% increase driven primarily by increases in estimated corporate fund and airport fund revenues, as well as a new $100 million “Community Safety Fund” announced by the mayor. That fund would rely on a renewed corporate head tax charging $21 per month per employee to companies with more than 100 Chicago-based employees.
The city previously had a corporate head tax of $4 per month per employee for companies with over 50 Chicago-based employees, but then-mayor Rahm Emanuel eliminated the levy in 2014.
Estimated revenues at the city’s four annuity and benefit funds were down from the previous year, ranging from a -2.6% decline in the fireman’s benefit fund to -8.2% in the laborers’ fund.
Roughly half of the city’s estimated revenues come from five major sources as designated by the budget office: rates and charges, the property tax levy, lease of personal property (the “cloud tax”), water rates, and the corporate fund pension allocation.
Estimated revenues were up from the previous year in all of the five largest categories save the corporate fund pension allocation, which declined -3.8% from the previous year.
The lease of personal property category saw the largest increase, with cloud service tax hikes expected to bring in an additional $334 million, up 40.8% from the previous year.
New revenue sources this year, in addition to the proposed corporate head tax, include revenue from proposed levies on online sports wagering, hemp, and cable programming.
Appropriations
Overall Appropriations & Year-to-Year Budget Growth
The budget recommendation for 2026 contains roughly $18.4 billion in appropriations, down -2.6% from the year prior.
(The city’s budget office cites a budget total equal to appropriations minus transfers between funds and proceeds from debt, but does not itemize those transfers or debt proceeds. According to the budget presented this year, approximately $1.7 billion was subtracted for transfers between funds and $117.1 million for debt proceeds, for a cumulative budget total of roughly $16.6 billion.)
From 2011 (the earliest year for which detailed digital data is available) through 2025, city budgets have grown at an average rate of 8.3% annually, a high rate driven in part by the infusion of billions of dollars in federal relief funds during the COIVD-19 pandemic.
Prior to the 2021 budget, the first budget to include pandemic relief funds, the budget increased annually at an average rate of 5.0%.
Adjusted for inflation, year-to-year growth from 2011-2024 (the last full year for which inflation data is available) averaged 4.4%, or 3.3% for the pre-pandemic years 2011-2020.
As in other recent years, more than 40% of the budget is dedicated to non-departmental appropriations categorized as “Finance General.” Pension and benefits costs are lumped together in finance general, rather than being broken out by department.
This year, departmental appropriations make up 56.1% of the proposed budget, and finance general appropriations the remaining 43.9%, the highest share of the budget dedicated to finance general since the availability of digital budget data began in 2011.
Appropriation Sources
In previous years’ budgets, city funds have been categorized as either local, grant, or Community Development Block Grant. 2026 is the first budget in which the CDBG category has been eliminated, with all funds presented as either local or grant.
Grant funds are down overall, with appropriations from grants as a percent of the total budget down from 25% (including CDBG) in the 2025 appropriations ordinance to 20.9% in the 2026 recommendations.
The majority of city departments are primarily locally funded, with only the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, Department of Family and Support Services, Chicago Department of Public Health, Chicago Department of Transportation, Office of Budget and Management, Department of Environment, and Department of Housing dependent on grants for the majority of their budgeted appropriations.
Departmental Appropriations and Year-to-Year Budget Growth
As in previous years, the Chicago Police Department has by far the largest of the city’s proposed departmental budgets, making up 20.5% of all departmental appropriations in the mayor’s recommendations:
The Department of Water Management, Department of Aviation, and Department of Environment saw the largest proposed budget increases. (Water Management and Aviation both draw primarily on their own dedicated funds, while Environment is primarily funded out of the corporate fund.)
The Chicago Department of Public Health, Department of Family and Support Services, and Chicago Department of Transportation, all of which are heavily grant-funded, saw the largest budget cuts in the 2026 proposal, reflecting expiring COVID-era funds and uncertainty about future federal funding.
As a percentage of the previous year’s appropriations, the Department of Environment saw the largest budget increase, growing over 2000% from roughly $2.4 million to $50.4 million.
Excluding that outlier, the Office of Budget and Management, Department of Water Management, and Department of Finance saw the largest percentage increases, while the Chicago Department of Public Health, Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, and Department of Family and Support Services saw the largest reductions as a percentage of previous year appropriations.
Local Fund Budgeted vs. Actual Spend
A BGA Policy analysis of actuals and encumbrances from 2022-2024 found that most city departments spent well under their budgeted local funds, with the significant exception of the Chicago Police Department, which went increasingly over budget in local fund expenditures each year.
In 2024, the Chicago Commission on Human Relations and Chicago Fire Department also exceeded their budgets, though by substantially less than CPD overspend, both in total dollar amounts and percentage of each department’s budgeted funds.
Among the city’s largest departments, the 2026 budget in most cases proposes total appropriations in excess of both the 2024 budget and actual spend. Proposed 2026 appropriations for CPD, however, are less than the police department’s actual spend in 2024.
Positions
Overall Positions & Year-to-Year Growth
The total number of budgeted positions has remained relatively consistent over the years, with an average annual rate of change from 2011-2025 of -0.1%.
The mayor’s 2026 budget recommendation proposes the elimination of 443 positions/FTEs, a -1.2% reduction in workforce, continuing a decline from the previous year, which saw a -1.6% reduction from 2024.
Departmental Positions and Year-to-Year Growth
The newly-expanded Department of Environment saw the most positions/FTEs added, followed by the Department of Aviation and Department of Law, while the Chicago Department of Public Health, Chicago Public Library, and Department of Streets and Sanitation saw the most positions/FTEs eliminated.
CDPH, CPL, and DSS were among the departments with the largest reductions in force in the previous year’s budget as well, continuing a downsizing trend for all three departments.
As a percentage of departmental workforce, the Department of Environment saw the largest increase, going from 14 budgeted positions to 79, a 464.3% increase.
Excluding that outlier, the largest percent increases in workforce in the proposed budget were at the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, Department of Law, and Department of Aviation.
CDPH and CPL saw the largest reductions as a percentage of departmental workforce, as well as the largest net decreases, with the City Treasurer’s office seeing the third-largest reduction as a percentage of workforce.
Vacancies
New this year, and starting with end-of-month data for February 2025, the city has been releasing monthly datasets of departmental vacancies.
The chart below shows total vacant positions by department as of the end of September 2025, with persistent vacancies highlighted (the same department/division/section/sub-section/title combination vacant across all eight months of available data). Across the entire city workforce, 18.1% of positions were vacant, with 6.4% of positions vacant for the entire eight months for which data is available.
As of September 2025, the Chicago Police Department had the most vacant positions, followed by the Department of Water Management and the Department of Public Health.
As a percentage of budgeted departmental positions/FTEs, the Department of Technology and Innovation had the largest vacancy rate, with 74.5% of budgeted positions unfilled. The Board of Ethics and Chicago Department of Public Health were both also more than half vacant as of September 2025.
Overall, from Feb-Sept 2025, the city averaged a 11.2% vacancy rate, of which 7.2% were persistent vacancies.
Mandatory Budget Floors
City law requires that minimum levels of funding be budgeted to three agencies with oversight responsibilities: the Office of Inspector General, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, and the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability.
A recent BGA Policy analysis found that departmental appropriations for those departments have not historically been sufficient to meet the mandatory minimum floors. Instead, the city’s budget office adds estimates of “fringe” pension and benefit costs to meet the minimums, even though pension and benefits are not otherwise treated as part of departmental budgets. In the case of OIG, the city counts indirect costs assessed by a third-party Cost Allocation Plan towards the budget floor as well.
Additionally, the funding floors for COPA and CCPSA – which are based on a percentage of non-grant Chicago Police Department funds – do not include CPD fringe in the calculation, resulting in an apples-to-oranges comparison of COPA and CCPSA’s regular budgets plus estimated fringe to CPD’s regular budget without fringe.
COPA Budget Floor
Comparing only regular departmental budgets, COPA’s proposed 2026 appropriations without an additional fringe estimate fall short of 1% of CPD’s non-grant appropriations by $4.5 million in the current proposal.
If instead fringe is considered on both sides of the equation, using the same fringe rate to compare COPA appropriations plus fringe to CPD appropriations plus fringe (still something of an underestimate, as police pension and benefit costs tend to be higher than non-police), the shortfall increases to roughly $7.2 million.
CCPSA Budget Floor
Comparing only regular departmental budgets, CCPSA’s 2026 proposed appropriations without an additional fringe estimate fall short of 0.22% of CPD’s non-grant appropriations by $435,358 in the current proposal.
If instead fringe is considered on both sides of the equation, using the same fringe rate to compare CCPSA appropriations plus fringe to CPD appropriations plus fringe, the shortfall increases to $969,106.
OIG Budget Floor
Unlike COPA and CCPSA’s budget floors, which are based on a percentage of CPD’s non-grant appropriations, OIG’s budget floor is a percentage of total annual appropriations from the entire city budget, with certain, ordinance-specified adjustments subtracted.
As with COPA and CCPSA, the addition of estimated fringe costs is needed to meet the budget floor as calculated by OBM. Indirect costs from the city’s most recent annual Cost Allocation Plan are also counted towards the budget floor.
Without fringe included, OIG’s 2026 proposed departmental budget falls $5.7 million short of the mandatory minimum as calculated by OBM.
Note on Data in this Overview: All comparisons to appropriations from the 2025 budget are made using the 2025 appropriations ordinance dataset. While local fund appropriations are consistent between the two datasets, the 2026 recommendations dataset contains different values for many grant appropriations than those originally passed by city council, both in the “2025 Appropriation” and “2025 Revised Appropriation” fields. Where relevant in department-level snapshots for grant-funded departments, BGA Policy will compare both the original budget as passed by the city council and the “2025 Revised Appropriation” from the 2026 recommendations dataset.
