Mic check. One, two. My my, my mic check. Mic check. Mic check.
Working.
Oh, good morning. Good
Morning. Mic check. 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1 0 4
Girls.
Mic check. One, two. Ms. Arnold,
I.
Mic check. 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2. I have a second. Mic check. 1, 2, 1, 2. Nope, my,
uh, mic check one. You got it. Alright.
So guys gotta scoot over a move.
Got it.
Me sitting down. You can be right. It's gonna be terrible.
No, but I do.
Good morning. And, uh,
welcome to the Committee on Budget and Government Operations 2024.
Uh, budget Departmental hearings. Uh,
we'll start with roll call to, uh,
get a quorum and then move further in the business. So, Alman Spotter,
Alman, do Altman Robinson.
Alderman Yancy, Altman, Mitchell
Derman Harris. Altman Ramirez.
Altman Quinn Derman Lopez.
Cannot believe it. Altman Lopez is not in the room. Altman Moore
Derman. Osha Altman. Moley
Rodriguez. He's online. T Scott,
t c, Lopez Burn.
Altman. Cardona. Derman.
Rodriguez Sanchez. Altman.
Conway Altman Ramirez. Rosa Ottman.
Viegas Altman. Mitch. Ms. Pado.
Altman Nugent. Altman Vazquez
Altman Napolitano. Ano Reilly Al Mcn.
Newtson Alman Martin
on Manhattan on the Silverstein
Vice Chair Lee
Perry is President Alderman Martin.
Alderman Lopez. Alderman,
CTO Lopez.
Okay. We have a quorum. Um,
alderman Hall. Oh, we, we haven't gotten to you yet.
Okay. Yeah. Just grab a chair. Got this.
The time you sit and watch. Yeah. Let's see. Let's, uh,
this is gonna be all right. Alright. Uh, before we move forward, um, we have,
uh, alderman Rodriguez is joining us virtually.
Is there a motion to allow him to participate due to a medical emergency? So,
move Alderman Vasquez. All in favor? Second I saying, aye.
Any opposed? Any, any opinion? Chair ayes Have it. Uh, alderman Rodriguez,
are you with us, sir? Yes. Thank you. Okay. We'll add you to the role,
um, non-members present. Alderman Hopkins,
alderman Hall.
Alderman Bill Alderman Chico. Alderman Gutierrez,
Coleman Mc Curtis
Taylors present. Alman Arius.
Alderman Fuentes and Cruz Milwaukee Spec.
Alman Lawson Altman, Gardner, Alman,
clay, alderman Manna. Hoppen Worth.
Okay. Alright. Uh, just, uh, before we get started, uh,
number one, um, um,
there was a point about written comment. Um,
written comment could be directed to the committee's email,
which is the Committee on the budget and government
operations@cityofchicago.org. Uh, that language will be added to the,
uh, notice as it was not included in the original notice that was, uh, sent.
However, uh, written comment, uh, is and always will be, uh,
appreciated. As it relates to public comment,
we will do public comment at the end of each day. Uh, we will, we have, uh,
we're slated for 10 days, and at the end of each day, we'll have public comment.
Um, other items, uh, for housekeeping, uh,
Sergeant in Arms has asked us to keep the, uh, food and beverages to a minimum.
Uh, of course, water, drinks and the like are, uh, are okay.
But he's asked us to keep, uh, other items to a minimum. We'll break every day.
I, I said a minimum. A minimum man.
We have, uh, lunch. We will break approximately at one o'clock, uh, for,
uh, lunch. We may go a little later today just to get the ball rolling. Uh,
in general, we will call, uh, folks as in the past by, uh, as we,
as we start, uh, by order of seniority.
But as we enter the balance of the day, if you're here when we start, uh,
you'll have that privilege and others will be called as they come in,
committee members first, then non committee members, um, which has been, uh,
been the protocol. So, um, before we start, any questions?
Mr. Uh, autumn Bill, Mr.
Chairman, you're saying, uh,
public comment's gonna be at the end of every meeting?
Is that what you're saying? Yes.
Is there a reason why we're gonna inconvenience the public to sit through all
day and not be testifying before?
Again, we're, we're starting right now, a little late today. So again,
we're going to have public comment at the end that's at the, at the, uh,
at the discretion of the chair. So we're gonna do it at the end of,
end of every day.
Uh, I mean, I totally disagree, Mr. Chairman. That's a total, um, to me,
the public should have a voice first and then, um,
to have them sit here for sometimes six, seven hours. Um, I,
I think that's a disservice to, um, public comment.
Okay. Thank you for your note. Okay. Alright.
Again, um, we will start today again.
We will start today with the, uh, department of Finance. The Budget Department,
and our C F O. Ma'am, excuse me.
Um,
excuse me. Uh, I, we don't want to, we would do,
we do not want to end like we did Friday. So, um, so again,
we'll start with the C F O. We'll start with the C F O.
Okay. We'll start with the C F O O Comptroller and
Budget Director. Nobody's rights are being violated.
You will have an opportunity. You will have an opportunity to speak.
You will have an opportunity to speak. Okay.
Sergeant at Arms, sir, would you, would you take care of this, please?
You all may begin.
The Chairman, Irvin.
Sergeant at arms,
nobody's rights are being violated. Ma'am, again, uh,
um, Madam, Madam, budget Director, please begin
To Chairman Irvin, vice Chair Lee.
Mr. Sergeant at arms. Sergeant at arms,
could you please escort those individuals out if they are not going to maintain
decorum? Here,
Go, go ahead. We not gonna sit
Ladies and gentlemen, we'll take a short recess while,
while the sergeants at arms dispenses of this
committee, uh, committee's back order. Um,
I know after conference with, um,
committee on Rules in the Sergeant Arm,
we're gonna allow public comment to proceed at this time. Uh, we're gonna start,
everyone will get three minutes and we're gonna start with, uh, Zoe Lee,
Is this going from there?
You may begin.
Yeah, I would like to know, um,
I currently reside in Streeterville and I'm trying to figure out, um,
the 320, I broke down this, this, this, this little migrant budget that, that,
that's out here.
So $321,000 went to a church called Another Chance Church.
There's only three black, there's only three black vendors on there,
but that one church got $321,000.
And not one migrant has been in that church.
And I'm trying to figure out where,
like for y'all to have all this money for these migrants,
why are they still at these police stations?
I'm trying to figure out when are we gonna get an audit?
I'm trying to figure out where,
like no one speaks about any of these type of things.
I see that $98 million went to staffing. I, I'm,
I'm just confused. So I just wanna know, like, when will we get an audit? When,
when, when will you guys are gonna start talking about that? Why does,
why did one church get $321,000 and not one migrant is in
there being housed and it was supposed to be for the fall and they got money
from December until March.
March they got $41,000 for repairs.
And I'm not sure what kind of repairs they got because not one migrant went
there. So I would like to see if you guys can figure, figure that out.
Or you can get some people off 51st and Wentworth. 'cause 51st and Wentworth,
you're gonna get some of them and start housing them there because nobody does
not wanna keep seeing these tents and it's getting cold.
So I don't understand what type of humanitarians are y'all with our tax paying
money and we're not and we're not getting and and we're not getting any,
any results at all. So I would like to know that,
I would like to figure that out at, uh, because I,
it doesn't make any sense for $321,000 to go to one black church
in Roseland and not one migrant has, has, has,
has made it over there. Not one,
Not one. Jessica Jackson.
Um, if all the aldermen and all the Alder women could please pay attention,
and I know that's asking a lot
because even when the virtual speakers are speaking,
you all are down here talking
and not paying attention to what the public is saying.
So I'm saying this to the Black aldermen and to the Black Alder women,
the black citizens of Chicago are requesting a meeting,
a town hall meeting with all black aldermen and all Black
Alder women, women to me,
about the issues of our community to talk about where our money is.
I'm not talking about black and brown
because when Brown gets their money mm-hmm. It's for them.
Brown does not share their money with us.
We talking about black people's money.
I'm making a public request to black aldermen and
black alder women to have a town hall meeting with your
black constituents so that we could talk about black business
so that we are not constantly bombarded by immigrants coming into our
neighborhoods with you all being able to, uh,
what get up under the covering of we didn't know.
They just told us. If that's true,
they're violating you all's due process like they're violating ours.
So are you all going to stand up for your due process rights
and in turn stand up for our due process rights?
Are you all going to get constantly ran over and then
run over us and then expect us to keep voting you in office?
It's a very unrealistic expectation.
I'm asking the black citizens of Chicago are asking for the
black aldermen and the black alder women to have a
meeting with your black constituents. We are not talking about wait no two,
three months.
Clearly things can happen quickly 'cause we see how quick they come
into our neighborhoods with this garbage and we saw how quick he was to, uh, uh,
violate our rights as public speakers.
So y'all violate rights real quick.
So we want our meeting and if you feel like you don't have to give it to us,
okay? We gonna vote you out. Believe we gonna vote you out
Out. 'cause this is ridiculous.
Thank you. Uh, Mr. Blakemore.
This is a budget hearing and it's about the money.
Now you know, the, the bees have they honey,
and when you mess with they honey, they sting you.
It's about the money.
And some of you blacks don't know how to empower us.
We have to empower us. We got black faces
everywhere, A black mayor, black Altman, black this and black that.
And we are at the bottom of the social economic level in a
cash. Mr. Blakemore, that's over in India. That's right here.
All these, did you see what Mr. Irving said?
That we have to wait, wait.
Just keep waiting on the Lord. Black people, you have to speak up.
Now I get on having to be a lot, but, but, but the Lord was speaking to him.
Oh yeah. God speaks to, to everyone.
Sometimes it's something inherently wrong with
this system. The system is broken.
All of these people are Democrats except one.
What do they do? Mr. Bemo? 69 each of us.
What? Yes, they do.
And does it benefit the black community? No.
You know, the games that people play,
Uhhuh,
it's about the money and the little bees have a instinct.
When you mess with they honey,
you have to come all covered up because they esteem
you is about the money and the golden rule,
he who has the gold rule and you black people
don't have the gold and you don't even have the number,
but God gave you everything you need.
All you have to do is use what God have given you.
B a, b a, bum B and sting.
Anyone that met with Joe, honey,
that's our money.
And we never got our 40 acres and our mules and reparation.
That money belonged to us.
That's you not giving us nothing. You know,
some of you white folks are still sweetness outta sugar.
The golden rule. What is the golden rule again, Mr. Blakemore,
he who has the goal rule
That, that concludes public comments. Um,
we'll start with the, uh,
opening statements from the budget Director Comptroller and C F o,
Madam Budget Director Poll. Alderman Martin will add you to the role.
Thank you. I've got you. Altman Lopez come in.
Alright, very well Madam. Budget director.
Thank you.
The chairman Irvin Vice Chair Lee, and the honorable members of City Council.
Good morning.
My name is Annette Guzman and I am the budget director for the city.
I am honored this morning to come before you to discuss Mayor Johnson's proposed
2024 budget as the city continues to emerge from the devastating
public health, social, and financial impacts of the C Ovid 19 pandemic.
The 2024 budget places the city on a path to addressing the historic
disinvestment felt by many of our communities by investing in the areas of youth
employment, mental health, service expansion, housing,
environmental justice, community safety,
and continued operational enhancements. Just to name a few,
when we came before you last month,
we presented a budget forecast that reflected a gap of $538 million,
primarily driven through increased labor costs based on our negotiated
contracts,
declining federal c Ovid 19 funding and the budgeted cost of supporting the new
arrival's mission,
which was a topic raised by this council during last year's budget hearings.
Since that time, my office,
together with the Chief financial officer and the comptroller,
have worked to develop a balanced budget through both cost efficiencies and
savings and an improved revenue outlook.
I'd like to first address the gap within our corporate fund.
Although the prospect of closing a half a billion dollar, uh,
gap presented a daunting task,
this city has indeed faced larger gaps and faced them head on.
In resolving the forecasted gap,
our office has sought to close the gap through structural solutions without an
over-reliance on one-time revenue.
After making modest investments in key initiatives prioritized by Mayor Johnson,
we were able to close the gap and present a balanced $16.6 billion
budget without increasing the base property tax levy by prioritizing
$243 million in operational savings and efficiencies,
including departmental savings related to economizing,
and focusing on the projects and initiatives that can be carried out within our
current capacity savings realized through the ization of certain
positions within C P D,
the strategic refunding of bonds to lower our debt service costs and savings
within our personnel line through work,
through re-forecasting our healthcare costs for 2024,
based on anticipated headcount,
the gap was also closed through improved revenues of 321 million,
including declaring a higher TIF surplus based on the amount of funds
unallocated to projects in 2024,
updating the calculation of new properties being added to the property tax,
which frees up funding within our corporate fund.
The use of interest earnings on our asset lease reserves improved outlook for
collections from revenue enforcement, the strategic use of the city's fund,
balance reserve,
and reforecasted revenue projections based on updated economic information.
While we were able to close the projected gap for 2024,
working on structural solutions to our projected long-term budget gaps is a
focus of the collective efforts of our offices as we face increasing labor costs
year over year, increased pension obligations,
and the fiscal cliff that we, along with local governments across the country,
will have to contend with as federal c Ovid 19 Pandemic aid ends to
ensure continued support for long-term obligations,
such as our pensions and debt service,
and the provision of services provided by our departments.
It is critical that we continue to seek out and evaluate new sources of revenue,
including state and federal grants,
as well as continuing to find efficiencies and how we deliver our services.
To that end,
we are excited about a number of of initiatives that this budget supports,
including the reestablishment of the IT infrastructure of the city within the
Department of Technology and Innovation.
Elevating and investing in the work of a central IT department will help to push
efficiencies.
This is particularly important to the budget office as we will benefit from the
new enterprise resource planning tool currently being implemented across the
finance, procurement, facility management, and HR offices of the city.
By transitioning to a more modern integrated and cloud-based platform,
our office is aimed to introduce more user-friendly modules for our staff and
department users, cutting down on time consuming and manual data processes,
while also allowing for more data-driven management within our operations.
In addition, within our office, our expanded grants team will work.
We'll be working with the mayor's office over the next several months to analyze
the city's ARPA spending plan.
Although ARPA funding was always a temporary funding source,
the funding has been used to support programs working to address historical
disinvestment in our communities throughout the city,
which was exacerbated through C Ovid 19.
Though the city's finances are on their way to rebounding to pre pandemic
levels, the work to address historic disinvestment continues.
Thus we'll be working to analyze the ARPA spending plan and each individual
initiative they're in to accomplish several goals,
including shifting fundings from programs at risk of not spending within the
deadline set by the treasury to high impact programs with the history of
successfully spending down their ARPA allocations,
identifying sustainable sources of funding to support high impact programs
beyond the performance period. End date of December, 2026,
and working with the comptroller and the Department of Law to reevaluate our
advanced funding process to delegate agencies to reduce redundancies and
inefficiencies and to speed up payments to such agencies while balancing risk to
the city. Finally, as noted earlier,
we are for the first time dedicating funding within the 2024 budget to support
the costs associated with the new arrivals mission.
The city continues to look for and achieve cost savings in the delivery of
services to support new arrivals, while also identifying, applying for,
and receiving funding from the state and federal government.
Since buses began to arrive from the border to Chicago last year until August of
this year, we have spent over $150 million in aid of this mission with over
130 million of that spent in this year alone.
But the majority of the costs have been reimbursed through funding received from
other sources. To date this year,
the city has received resources holding just over $170 million to cover costs
associated with the new arrivals mission with roughly 68% of that coming from
the federal and state government.
But the number of new arrivals exponentially increasing this budget reflects the
city's commitment to contribute our part to the, to support the mission.
We continue to work with the state and federal government to identify additional
resources to, to support as well.
Today I'm joined in the box by a number of my colleagues, including Jacob,
Jacob Newman, first deputy budget director Kevin Murphy,
managing deputy budget director of our workforce management and technology.
Matt Matthew Schmitz, managing deputy budget director for Grants. Chloe Beza,
deputy Budget Director over Grants. Alexis White,
deputy budget director over regulatory, and Kevin Schuster,
deputy Budget Director for Capital Infrastructure.
I am grateful for their leadership as well as the work of the entire office of
budget and management and developing the budget before you today,
I am especially grateful for the partnership of my co-leads of the city's
finance team, Jill Jaworski, c f o, and Chase War Winkle Comptroller,
who you'll hear from shortly. I'm also thankful for,
thankful for the warm welcome I've received from this council since being
appointed and the fruitful conversations we have had about the financial health
and direction of the city.
You have an awesome task before you and I look forward to the work we will do in
partnership over the next several years after you've heard from the C F O and
Comptroller, me and my team are happy to answer any questions that you have.
Thank you. Um, director Guzman, uh,
c f o Dusky or comptroller with who's next.
I only have a few minutes left to say this, but good morning.
Good morning. Chairman Irvin, vice Chairman Lee,
members of the city council and the public. My name is Jill Jaworski.
I'm the Chief Financial Officer for the City of Chicago.
I'm honored to be with you here today and to address your questions on the
mayor's proposed 2024 budget. During his campaign,
mayor Johnson addressed the fiscal reality of the city's finances and the
challenges it presents to the administration's vision of investing in our people
and our community.
I'm delighted to stand here before you today to present the 2024 budget and
highlight how it ensures that the city continue to continues to chart its path
toward fiscal stability.
This proposed budget is not only fiscally responsible,
but it's also a testament to the city's unwavering commitment to its residents
and those who have served its residents.
It signifies investments in critical areas such as youth employment,
mental health, affordable housing, environmental sustainability,
and it upholds our promises to public servants who have selflessly served
Chicagoans for years.
It is a budget which places paramount importance on long-term fiscal stability,
directs resources towards historically disinvested communities and keeps
Chicago's working class at the heart of every financial decision we make.
This budget represents the beginning of a transformative journey that will
unfold over the next four years. Let's begin with fiscal stability.
The city's pension obligations represent approximately 20% of the city's budget.
The city has increased the contributions significantly over the last few years
and is now contributing an actuarily determined contribution amount to each
fund. Despite that,
the pension fund's unfunded liability will continue to grow without additional
funding.
This budget addresses this challenge by sustaining our pension advance payment
policy.
This accelerates our path to fiscal stability for our pension funds.
The advanced payments are expected to yield approximately $2.8 billion in
long-term savings for the city funds that can be reinvested where they're needed
most. Right in our neighborhoods.
Our dedication to honoring our commitment to the city's public services public
servants remains unwavering,
and we are resolute in our commitment to working in close collaboration with our
labor and state partners to chart up a sustainable path forward for the city's
pensions.
We must and we will continue our path towards reaching 90% funding for the
pension funds so that the city's fiscal stability will not be threatened in the
future by unaffordable commitments.
And our employees and our retirees will be comfortable.
Their pensions are protected.
The Bally's temporary casino opened last month.
This budget utilizes the casino tax revenues for payments to the pension funds.
When the permanent casino is open in 2026,
the city will be collecting approximately $200 million in annual revenues and
annual gaming revenues, all of which will be dedicated to our pension funds.
This is projected to relieve the city of the need to continue the advanced
pension payments.
As Mayor Johnson has emphasized,
we are committed to responsible fiscal management.
This means that new programs launched will be paired with sound structural
revenue sources,
which don't put an undue burden on the city's already overextended working
class. Developing a diverse set of structural revenue sources isn't just sound
financial practice. It's a cornerstone of effective governance.
Our pursuit of equitable and sustainable revenue streams will not only enable us
to make crucial investments in affordable housing and mental health,
but will also provide relief to hardworking families who have struggled to put
food on their table or gas in their tank.
I look forward to working with the New Revenue Committee in the finance
committee to analyze revenue options and forge a path forward to a more
equitable tax framework. As noted by the mayor in his speech,
the effective tax burden for a family with a $25,000 income is 33%
higher than for a family with an income of $150,000.
It is our highest priority to implement new revenues, which are progressive,
not regressive,
and they'll provide additional funding for the city to invest in high priority
programs.
The city has undergone numerous rating upgrades recently reflecting the
improvement in the city's finances.
This budget represents the sound budgeting that we expect will maintain our
ratings and put us in the position to earn future upgrades.
The rating upgrades reflect the progress that the city has made in addressing
the longstanding pension and debt obligations of the city. But more importantly,
the upgrades will result in lowering bar lower borrowing costs.
As we use municipal bonds to fund our c I p and in important investments
throughout the city,
the reduction in our borrowing costs allows us to make more investments in other
city priorities. Through the stabilization of pensions,
diversification of structural revenue sources,
and strategic capital and social investments,
we are transforming Chicago into a thriving hub for living, working,
and investment.
It is our expectation that these endeavors will be reflected in improved credit
ratings in the future,
and more importantly in the fiscal stability that will allow the city to budget
for our key priorities going forward. I extend my gratitude to Chairman Irvin,
vice Chair Lee,
and all the members of this body for joining us today to deliberate on the 2024
budget.
I eagerly anticipate collaborating with each of you over the next four years to
forge a financially robust Chicago that will continue to serve our residents for
generations to come.
Thank you. C F O Comptroller.
I also am able to say good morning, barely. Uh,
good morning, chairman Irving,
vice-Chairman Lee distinguished members of the Committee on Budget and
Government Operations.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the
Department of Finance's goals and budget for the upcoming year.
I'm honored to serve you and the residents of the City of Chicago and lead a
very dedicated team at the Department of Finance, uh,
many of which are here today.
I would like to highlight some of the programs and initiatives that this budget,
um, has allowed us to do from the past year and discuss the plan initiatives for
2024. The Utility Billing Relief Program,
or U B R provides low income City of Chicago residents with 50 a
50% reduction reduced rate on water, sewer, and water sewer tax charges,
as well as debt relief for those who demonstrate they can manage the reduced
rate bills for one year. During the 2022 budget cycle,
you voted to make U B R A permanent program. To date,
the program has approved over 40,000 enrollees with 92%
of enrollees success successfully completing the program.
Approximately 48% of our enrollees are African American and 32%
are Hispanic. The U B R program has allowed low income homeowners to save over
$22.5 million in rate reductions and have over
22.9 million forgiven after successfully completing a year in
the program. Simultaneously. This year,
the department has been working closely with C D A to distribute low income
housing, water assistance,
or LWOP relief to landlords or tenants who pay water and or sewer
bills. In total,
the city has received and applied to customer accounts over 7.2 million through
the LWOP program. In 2024,
we hope to expand U B R to not only include single family homes and two flats,
but also three flats,
which should provide roughly $1.7 million in relief to Chicago families.
Furthermore,
the Department of Finances committed this year to exploring additional avenues
for utility bill relief,
which would address concerns raised by constituents and members of this body
around major water spike, uh, spikes in water bills. Next,
the Clear Path Relief Pilot program, which was launched in 2022.
Clear Path for Relief pilot program,
PR or C P R provides low income motorists the opportunity to reduce or eliminate
vehicle related debt such as parking, compliance, uh,
red light and speed camera violations. To date,
more than 32.5 million of, uh,
ticket debt has been waived. In addition,
introduced with C P R the Fix-It Defense,
which allows all motorists the opportunity to contest a ticket for failure to
display a current city, city sticker or license plate registration.
With proof of compliance today,
close to 28,000 tickets have been dismissed and more than 3.3 million in
fines has been waived for motorists who have come into compliance.
Because of the program's success we're seeking to codify that program that would
otherwise expire at the end of 2023. Next,
the Administrative Hearing Relief Pilot program,
which in was started in January 2nd, 2023. The department, uh,
launched the administrative Debt Relief program, a d r uh,
the third in a series of programs intended to relieve the burden of debt on
those struggling financially. Since its launch,
over 11.6 million has been raised, uh, waived,
more than 30,000 dockets have been closed,
and 6.9 million has been collected.
This program has enabled businesses and individuals seeking to obtain licenses,
permits, uh, and engage in business within the city to do just that.
We're hopeful that this program will also be codified for low-income individuals
and extended beyond the 2023 scheduled sunset
for enforcement. The street operations division,
it currently tracks enforcement requests for all wards and uses this data toward
predictive and prioritized enforcement. By the end of 2023,
the division will have implemented seven new 3 1 1 categories to allow
constituents to report parking issues citywide,
which will also be used to improve our predictive enforcement efforts.
The department is also actively working with C D O P to fully implement the
Smart Streets Pilot program,
which will improve bike lane violation enforcement and improve bike safety.
Consistent with department's focus on optimizing technology to increase
efficiency and drive improvements. In the spring,
the department launched a new app for the, uh,
M P E A airport departure tax and a new online platform for ground
transportation tax. Both offer enhanced features and a better user experience.
In the prior versions. The department has also extended its kiosk services,
the goal of every library and police district to have a kiosk.
These kiosks are important hubs for city payment options,
especially for the under and unbanked Chicagoans.
In terms of cash management and prompt payment,
the Department of Finance is actively working to pinpoint the root causes of
payment delays and implement measures to alleviate cashflow challenges.
The expectation is to increase the viability and inclusion of smaller
dis disadvantaged and diverse contractors related to the city contracting
opportunities. These measures,
including streamlining the workforce process to a 30 day cycle per
the internal compliance controls issued on May 23rd, 2023,
along with timely issuance of standard purchase orders and releases.
Also implemented this year was the 50 50 pilot program to accelerate payments on
certain contracts. The program is open to eligible infrastructure,
contract construction contracts,
and professional service contracts to help reduce the burden on cash flow.
We are still exploring advanced payments to vendors using a third party funds
control administrator to expedite payments to construction companies
in connection with the city's equitable social service contracting initiative.
The department is now in its second year since implementing procedures to
address the cash flow issues that impact many providers and discourage new
providers from participating in the city's delegate agency contracting process.
The Advanced Mobilization Payment Program allows low risk agencies
demonstrating financial hardship,
the opportunity to receive up to 25% of the annual contract amount.
The expedited reimbursement payment process enables agencies to receive approved
advanced payments that meet the delegate's actual and immediate cash
requirements for the authorized cost essential to carrying out the program.
Finally,
the expedited disbursement of approved cash assistance allows the user
department and d o F to jointly request the city treasurer's office to
set up an escrow account to fund the a third party payer for a delegate
a agency contract on behalf of eligible beneficiaries.
These processes were developed with the goal of lifting barriers to create more
equitable and inclusive delegate agency contracting process. Overall,
over $48.7 million has been either advanced or expedited since these
programs were implemented in June, 2022. I again,
want to thank you all for this opportunity to discuss, uh, the budget,
the Department of Finance and Cash Management of the City of Chicago.
I also want to thank my committed team who strive to improve our services to
the residents and taxpayers of the city of Chicago every day.
I appreciate your time and I'm happy to answer any question. Thank
You, comptroller. Um,
could you all introduce the individuals that are in the box, uh,
for your respective departments, please?
Sure. I I mentioned this in my, um, in my opening statement, but, uh, you
Could, if you could stand when she calls your name. Yeah,
That'd be great. Uh, so Jacob Nudelman. Um, first Deputy Budget Director, um,
Kevin Murphy,
managing Deputy Budget director over Workforce Management and Technology. Uh,
not in the box, but sitting somewhere back there. Matthew Schmitz, uh,
managing deputy Budget Director Grants. Chloe Ze, uh,
deputy Budget Director over Grants. Alexis White, uh,
deputy Budget Director Regulatory, and Kevin Schuster,
deputy Budget Director over capital Infrastructure, uh,
for my group, uh, nor Shaki and Chip Hastings
And, uh, for my group, and they're both in the box and, and over there as well.
We have, uh, Joel Flores, uh, Elaine Herman,
Joe Graham, uh, Ramona Hallahan, who I believe is in the back.
Yep. Karen Kaka is also over there. Yep. Uh,
um, uh, Ann Emerson, uh, cat Wheeler,
Darrell Mathis, Rosie Peterson.
Then I'm not sure if Orle Ortiz is here. No, that's it.
I'm sorry I missed Brendan White as well.
Did
You miss
Brendan White?
Okay, thank you. Uh,
next up we're going to have our team from Kofa.
They have a, uh,
fairly quick presentation they wanted to give to us in relation to this portion
of the budget. So I'm going to ask, um, Janice, uh, OTA Gray,
who's the acting director, Kofa, uh, to begin with that. Thank you,
Chairman Irving, vice Chairman Lee City Council, and our distinguished guest.
Good morning. Good afternoon. My name is Janice Oda Gray,
and I'm the acting Director of kofa,
which is City Council Office of Financial Analysis.
Today,
COFA will provide an overview of the Finance General and Department of Finance
areas. Throughout the next two weeks,
we'll provide an overview of all departments as displayed on the screen.
So we're gonna have departments to do every day for the next two weeks,
as well as we're gonna talk about the automatic survey that we conducted last
month. And in doing that,
we heard from the voices of the Alderman and they told us some of their
concerns.
We're gonna talk about those two when we have these meetings in the mornings.
Um, for this particular session,
we will not be talking about the survey because there are no questions that
related to the survey.
What is in financial finance general,
in the finance general area, there's cross-departmental expenses,
it expenditures, employee benefits, pensions, long-term debt,
and unanticipated departmental expenses. Let's look at the highlights
of finance. General 7.96 billion
appropriated for 20 24, 7 0.96 billion out of a
budget of 16.6 billion
from last year.
That's $198.5 million higher from the
revised 2023 budget, 1 98 0.5 million,
higher, 725.8 million.
That is for personnel. Now, keep in mind that's personnel, but not,
not salaries and wages. It's not people, it's no personnel costs,
but it's basically pension costs and also benefits. Now, keep in mind,
the pen, the pension costs grew tremendously, and it,
it grew for obvious reasons due to the state mandated issues,
but it grew 47% per year. Uh,
the appropriation category, driving the fiscal year 24 increase is, of course,
personnel services.
It went up 90.4 million or 14 point
22%. Now, when you look at this screen,
even I'm looking at it and I'm standing over it, I'm sitting right here,
and I can barely make out what it is, what it is. It's, it's funding,
it's all of the, it's all of the, um, every fund that it touches.
It just speaks to how wide this thing is. It's 7.96,
and the scale of it is tremendous.
All these funds are touched by finance General,
looking at it a different way, looking at the appropriation categories,
and you can see there the personnel services and the contractual services,
the travel. And if you look down toward the end,
you also see the special events projects,
special event projects.
You see 150 million for fiscal year 2024.
That's for migrant services,
and we're gonna talk about that just a little bit later.
This is a graph depicting the same thing. So when you,
you see that spike in the middle, um, that's because of that
$5.165 billion,
and that's for the financial purposes is specified.
That's why that spikes in the middle of that graph.
Going to the next slide,
you're just gonna see a historical walk on finance general.
The light blue is finance General. You can see how it went up every year.
Um, and the dark blue is the other expenses, the other
non-finance general expenses. So if you look at, for instance, a year 2013,
and you add those two amounts, that's the amount of the budget.
So if I were to go to 2014, and I would see, okay,
how much was Finance General for 2014?
$3.6 billion. If I fast forward to 2024,
it's more than doubled. That number has been increasing every year.
Finance General also had three new appropriation lines for 2024.
They had the casino community impact for $2 million.
They had new arrival services for $150 million,
and they also had the home repair for 10 thou, $10 million,
three new appropriation lines.
Our quick recommendations or things to consider,
we'd like to see more scrutiny and more of a light shined on Finance General,
I don't think we've ever been in this position where we sat here and even talked
about it or even discussed it. It's something that, you know,
should be discussed. Not that there's not detail provided,
not that they don't do a great job with it,
but I think there should be more light shined on it. Renewal, arrival services.
Everyone knows how emotional people in Chicago can get.
If you're at the meeting on Friday, you saw emotions at their highest.
It's the same way with migration services, rightfully so sometimes.
But in doing that,
we need to make sure that those funds don't appear to be
embedded somewhere.
That's why we're proposing that there's a separate fund to track.
And also for fiscal transparency.
I remember in the early spring when everyone was asking, well,
how much was spent on migrant SER services? And there was a lot of,
for a while, people really didn't know.
So that should definitely be separated in a separate fund so we can track it.
So we can kind of be above reproach. We don't want anyone saying that we're,
we're hiding the money somewhere. We're doing something that we shouldn't,
not that we ever would, but we don't even wanna give that impression.
The last item is appropriation specific to departments specific
departmental expenses. In other words, if there's an expense, um,
if there's salaries and an expense,
and the benefits or the pension is going to finance general,
it should all be put into that one department. It should follow the person.
If it follows the person, it'll reflect the true departmental operational cost.
And that will also provide fiscal transparency.
And it's also considered best practice by Government Finance Officers
Association.
Next you're going to hear from Daniel and he's gonna talk about
Department of Finance.
Hi, Daniel Strom, council Office of Financial Analysis.
I'm gonna look at oh two seven, which is the Department of Finance.
The f Y 24 proposed budget is 104.9 million.
This is a $5.7 million increase over the revised f
y 23 budget
in the proposed f Y 24 budget.
There are allocations for 663 full-time employee
positions making that an increase of 23 positions compared to the F
Y 23 budget. Most of the funding,
funding totaling 71.8% is derived from the corporate fund
in f Y 24,
representing a 6.3% increase compared to the revised F
y 23 budget.
So the primary factor contributing to the f Y 24 budget
expansion is the personal services category,
which is set to grow by 5.6 million,
representing an 11.8% increase compared to the revised f y
23 budget.
The personnel expenses are on the rise while commodities and
materials are budgeted to decrease by 19.4 million,
which is equivalent to 5.2% reduction in F O I
24.
So if we look at this by funding type,
we can see that 71.8% of the Department of Finance's budget
is derived from the corporate fund with 11.5% coming
from the water fund making up a majority. Uh,
the local funds make up in total 97% of the Department of
Finance's budget.
And we could see that grant grant management grew by
97.2% and the Coronavirus local
fiscal recovery fund, uh,
decreased by 56.5% for the f
y 24, uh, department of Finance Finance budget.
There is no funding allocated for the Community Development Block grant.
And overall, in total,
we're seeing a 5.7% increase in the Department of Finance's
total budget.
And so this next slide is just a historical look at the permanent full-time
employees. Uh, we can see from, uh,
fiscal year 2023 to 2024,
we have an additional of 23 new full-time employees
coming to a total of 663 full-time
employees. And that is it for kofa.
Thank you. Uh, thank you people from Kofa
t Moore.
I'm just wondering and thanks for the information. Uh,
we received some of the stuff. Why would,
did we receive the full deck of that information?
Uh, we can send it to you electronically. It was 17 pages.
Didn't want to print all of that out,
but we can make sure that you receive it on a,
on a daily basis of what they're presenting. Uh, not necessarily printed, but,
uh, just the fact sheets didn't wanna use, utilize all of that paper. So,
but we'll make sure that you have a electronic version of it before the day is
out. Thanks,
Chairman.
Okay, thank you. And for our first questions,
set of questions, vice Chair Lee.
Thank you Chairman. Uh, and thank you. Uh, budget Director Usman, um,
C f o, Jaworski and, uh, comptroller. How do you pronounce your Nu Ray Winkle.
Ray Winkle. Thank you. Um, I'm gonna start with, uh,
budget director.
I think this is probably more for you and I'm gonna start high level. Um,
you know, we saw in the, in the overview that, you know, there's a list of, uh,
120, excuse me, one 112 million,
one 12.6 million in operational efficiencies.
Can you get into a little bit more of the details of what makes up, um,
specifically those operational, uh, efficiencies?
Sure. So I think the, the first thing that,
um, makes up the bulk of that
Is just working with our departments, um,
to find savings within their lines, understanding, you know,
exactly what they're able to do, um,
in 2024 and budgeting for that.
So we went through line by line with each of the departments and,
and did that work. Um, that also includes shifting, uh,
the art grants that were funded in the corporate fund, um,
to the special events, uh, fund in f Y 24.
Um, the additional savings, um, uh,
included reducing the amount needed for cash match, um,
for our grants based on the grants that we were, um,
expected to receive in 2024. And then finally,
the ization efforts within C P D. Um,
we saw savings based on converting just over 400 position. I mean,
just under 400 positions, um,
from sworn officers to civilian uh, positions.
Thanks for that. Um, so just so I'm clear, so shifting, uh,
grants from the corporate funds over to special events, so that's really,
that's those savings are going to fund the migrant stuff, is that,
uh,
No, I mean, all of this
Is in all of it's
To reduce the gap, right? So it's not one for one. Okay. Um, the, uh,
shifting was based on, uh, needing to, to bridge the gap. But, um,
there are other, you know, departmental efficiencies that we found, um,
that all kind of go into the a hundred and I think it's $112 million in
operational efficiencies.
Okay. Um, I'll go to the, the next question with just in the same line. Um,
there was a, a 41.5 million in personnel savings.
Can you give us a little, uh,
little bit more color on specifically what made up the personal savings?
Yeah, I'm gonna actually toss that one to chase. Okay. Since that was, uh,
based on his office's recalculation of healthcare savings, uh, cost savings.
Thank you. Yes. So, uh, sorry.
That's okay.
I wanna look at you as we were talking. Uh, um, so yes,
after we went back and looked and,
and did a fine tooth chrome combed through what we're expecting headcount wise
and the needs for next year, we were able to look at our healthcare costs,
which are primarily driven by personnel and then drug prices.
And we're able to, uh, most of that personnel savings was around healthcare. Um,
and able to bring that down where we had, we had kind of consistently seen, uh,
uh, uh, slack in that in previous years.
So those were savings that we could realize. So
Just to be clarify, I'm reading that correctly. Then, um,
if we had open head open positions on the books, let's say, and we were,
we were budgeting to pay for the full count, that's what you did,
and you went through to find those efficiencies,
Right? So you,
healthcare costs are only incurred when there's an actual person in the,
in the position.
So we're able to look at those individually and then project where we were going
to be to, to see those savings.
Yeah. And will there be any impact to the benefits that people have?
No, there shouldn't be. Okay.
Great. Thank you. Um, I don't know if the chairman's keeping a,
a clock on me, but I'll try to keep it to a minimum here, um,
because I know there's gonna be a lot of other questions. Um,
let's talk about revenue projections, uh,
revenue projections at 186.8 million. Um,
can someone talk to us about how we came up with these improved revenue
projections?
Sure. Um, so when the forecast was, um, uh,
released last month, uh, the forecast is based on economic data known, um, um,
in the summertime, so June and July. Um, and it's pretty common to,
uh, when you're trying to close your gap to reforecast your data based on more
updated economic information. And since the time that we received,
and we work with an independent consultant, um, uh,
to review and forecast our revenues for the corporate fund.
And so since the time that we, uh, received that report and, um,
did our initial forecast, uh,
additional economic information had become available, um, the C P I,
um, that we base our salaries and coal on became available, um,
as well as economic data related to, um, the events and,
uh, tourism expected in the city. And the, um, reforecasted, uh,
projections are really based on both end of year, um, uh,
projections as well as next year. And they really revolve around some key taxes,
uh, within our recreation taxes. So our hotel taxes, our amusement taxes,
ground transportation based on, um, that updated economic, uh, data.
In addition to that, um, as we finalized our,
uh, calculations for property tax as well as our TIF surplus,
we were able to finalize, um,
what new properties would be coming back into our, um, into,
onto the, uh, tax role. So we were able to include additional, um,
E A V or new properties into, uh, that calculation.
Thank you. Um, I just have a couple more. There's a big increase in, uh,
oh one four oh contractual services line.
Can we get a breakdown and through the chair is Okay, um,
if we don't have time to do it today, um,
but can we get a breakdown of what that line entails and the difference between
2023 and 2024? Yes, we can do that for you.
Um, and then I just have a couple more for the comptroller. Um,
let's talk about payment delays. It's a really fun topic, not really fun at all.
Um, and I appreciate your, in, in your statement. Uh, the,
the work that's being done to, uh, um, shorten the, the wait time, uh,
especially for delegate agencies, um, we know that this, uh,
this is also an issue that, uh, affects other city contractors,
specifically minority and women owned businesses. Um, so, uh,
I understand the city contractors wait an average of 120 days to get paid by the
city and subcontractors sometimes even wait longer. Uh,
your predecessor Res Smithsonian was working on a plan to implement third party
payments systems to speed up the contractor payments. Is that on track? Um, and,
and when do we expect to, uh, to see, uh, the fruits of that labor?
We'll turn it on in a second. There you go.
Yes. Um, uh, as I said in my, uh, opening statement,
we are on track with the third party, um, processor. We are, um,
my hope is not to get out in front is to have that kind of bottled up by the end
of the year, um, and have that in process. The, the,
we're actually also working on another item, uh, that is tangentially related,
which is, uh, and this was mentioned by, uh, the budget director as well,
looking at inefficiencies on sign off in between,
both on the agency level and on the, uh, payment processing level.
Um, there are a lot of, uh, I wanna say duplication,
uh, in terms of who needs to sign off over certain contracts and payment that
significantly slowed down the process to actually getting to the comptroller's
office. Uh, that's not the, the fault of those individual agencies.
It's, it's our responsibility on the comptroller side to talk with them and work
through those inefficiencies so they can be comfortable with having, uh, a,
a smoother process to go through.
So we're working on both those at the same time.
So our hope is to cut that down to a 30 day cycle, um,
hopefully, uh, next year.
And are there policy changes? Sorry, am I out of time?
No, just, uh, just a side to that,
why would we need a third party to administer payment for,
for such when we issue payment ourselves?
So, um, the, uh, so
we can go through this, uh, kind of in a more detailed fashion,
but third party processor can only be totally focused on just that payment
processing type for those type of contracts to make those kind of move
faster through the system, uh,
as opposed to our general accounting and then the other agencies which have
other responsibilities as
Well. Is that more of a, is that a direct payment, uh,
like a title company setup, or,
or is it direct in just having a third party administer it?
It's a having a third party administrator.
Okay. Alright. Vice chair. Yep.
Thank you. Um, are there policy changes? I mean, 'cause you just mentioned,
right? Yeah. It's not the fault of the, the individuals. Um,
do you control as the comptroller the, the policies for some of those rules?
Like are there adjustments that we can make to that to create the efficiencies?
Or is that something we have to legislate?
It depends. Um, uh,
there are a number of internal rules that we are looking not, uh,
rule pro practices. How about we say that, um, that we can help, uh, alleviate,
but each individual agency has kind of different issues that might trap them up.
Um, people that have more federal oversight over certain things,
they might have to do certain things. So, uh,
we're currently looking through all of those to see where we can find some
issues. We haven't come across any items that need, uh, council approval,
but certainly we will work with you to make sure we identify those.
If they come up.
That's great. And then this is gonna be my final line of questioning,
at least for this round. Um, we,
we all know there's been $150 million appropriated to cover, um,
expenses for our new arrivals. Um,
and we've heard that this is gonna take us through, uh, the, you know,
the first half of the year. Um, how are, are, are this,
how do we anticipate the 150 millions gonna be dispersed? Um,
and what is this gonna look like? Like how's this gonna affect us? Um,
the appropriation going to affect this current budget book if we need more
money?
So, um, I think that, you know, both the mayor and the, uh,
first deputy chief of staff have, have, you know, been leading, um, on this.
We are still going after both state funds and federal funds.
We're actually in contact with the federal government right now for additional
funding this year. Um, as I mentioned in my opening statement, the bulk of, uh,
the resources that have gone to pay for the migrant mission so far has actually
been federal and state dollars. Um, you know,
this council appropriated $51 million in May. Um, that is actually,
um, uh, a smaller portion of what we've used so far to pay for it.
So we are still going after,
and we're still working very cooperatively and collaboratively with our state
and federal partners to get additional, additional funding.
And we anticipate continuing that into next year.
Okay. So, um, the, is that going to be the, the same plan then, you know,
continue to go, continue to go forward looking for more government money?
I'm just,
I mean, I, I, yeah, that,
I think that what we've said from the beginning is that, you know,
this is a federal issue. Um, and the federal government, um, uh,
you know, we're looking for their leadership in this, in this, uh, mission.
And so we do believe that it's important and,
and it's incumbent upon us to actually, uh, reflect to them, uh,
the costs to reflect to them, you know,
the resources that the city is marshaling to do our part. Um,
but that we do need, uh, you know, a more comprehensive solution, um,
to the, to the mission.
Yeah, and I appreciate all the work that's been done. I think, you know,
I don't wanna speak for others. I just know,
I know what I drive past every morning at the ninth district, which, you know,
I think are, are between 200 or 200 and 300 people today.
And I don't feel like the, the federal government has stepped up.
So I think my concern and a lot of my colleagues' concern is really, you know,
what, what are, what will we do if we don't have the funds? And we've, you know,
I think we've been fortunate thus far to be able to get reimbursed for some of
the stuff that we've already been spending. Um,
just doesn't feel very responsible of us to continue to, to do that. Um,
and I'll, I'll leave it at that. That's not a question you need to answer.
It's just more rhetorical at, at that point. Mr. Uh, chairman, I'm,
I'm done with my line of questioning right now. Thank you. Thank
You, vice Chair Lee. Um, next we will have, um,
alderman Mitts followed by
Alderman Riley.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, Ms. Goman, I wanna thank you,
first of all for reaching out to us, um, before budget,
just to go over any issues that we had, what our concerns were, and,
uh, was glad to be able to give that input to you. Let me just ask you about,
um, the youth you mentioned in your statement,
or either it goes to geo, uh,
the youth employment programs and, um,
where are we at with the program now and how many are we looking to add to the,
to the program? And then, um, the agencies that, uh,
operating the program. Just give me the rundown of it. Will you please,
Uh, thank you for the question. So, um, this year we were able to,
um, place, uh, close to 24,000 youth in summer programs,
as well as continuing those programs into, uh, year round. Um,
for this budget, we are adding an additional $11 million on top of,
on top of continuing the existing investment to, um, provide a,
an additional 4,000, uh, um, um, uh,
employment opportunities for youth between the ages of 13 and 24.
On top of that, uh,
we've also increased the budgets across several departments in the city of
Chicago to provide year round student internship programs or
opportunities,
which doubles the number of student interns we can have within our departments.
Um, and that's,
Go back for a minute. Did you say? Year round?
Yes. Year round For, for Stu for, um, city of Chicago departments. Yes.
So it's a little bit, not just summer, right? Not
Just summer. That's correct. Okay. Um, you know, I think the, the idea is, um,
you know, students, it's great to give them summer internships. Um,
but I think that they're also looking for, uh,
opportunities that are year round, um, not only opportunities that, um,
provide them enrichment, but also pay them. And so we, um,
are not only doing that,
we're also increasing the number and we're paying them minimum wage.
Okay. And have we just,
Oh, and the, and the agencies, I'm sorry. So,
in addition to our sister agencies, there's a number, uh, there's one, uh,
summer Chicago, which, um,
is done through the Department of Family and Support Services,
and they have the list of all the agencies, um, that, uh, are,
um, kind of the employment employers, uh, through that program. So I,
I don't have that. We can definitely get
That. Yes. I wanted to check, I know the one summer Chicago,
I'm just interested if anything been changed in terms of the agencies or not?
Not that I'm aware of. Um, I think it's, um, we can get the list of, um,
agencies that provided summer internship, um, opportunities,
but we did increase the number of, um,
student opportunities with our sister agencies at city colleges, uh,
C P s as well as the park district for the summer.
And we plan on doing that again, um, next summer as well.
Now for the mental, mental health clinics, you are planning, uh,
the Open More mental health clinic, is that correct?
Um, so we are providing the funding to build capacity to open two additional,
um, uh, clinics, pilot programs. As you know,
the working group that's being established under the treatment,
not trauma ordinance is going to make recommendations as to where the physical
locations will be. So starting next year, we'll be, um,
starting those mental health clinics,
those two additional mental health clinics in existing C D P H spaces so that we
can actually get the work started. Uh,
but the working group will provide recommendations for the, uh, uh,
two locations that'll be opened up. And, and
Who ha who is the working group? Can we get that information?
Uh, I think it's still the, who's gonna be on it is still being worked out.
I don't have the list, but I,
I believe that that'll be made available to city council.
Okay. Trying to get stuff ahead of time. I don't wanna get it on the back end,
so I'll know who's working on it before they make the decision. Um,
one other question I wanna ask you, where the, we are,
we're constantly talking about funding for the migrants,
so where are we getting the,
where are the funding if we are not going to have enough funding?
We're still getting what's the plan?
Um, so for
As you, as you see it now.
Yeah. So for the 2024 budget, the, um,
the funding for migrants was included in, uh, the anticipated expenditures,
which obviously, uh, contributed to our, our budget gap.
And so the funding that is being, um, the resources, uh,
available to,
to cover that is the resources available to cover all of our corporate fund
budget, um, which are our revenue sources, as well as, uh,
the additional funding we are using from our, uh, fund balance. Um, the plan,
as I had mentioned, uh, to Vice Chair Lee,
is to continually go after additional resources at the federal and state level.
And that's not just funding. We obviously want them to, um, provide funding,
but we also need a ton of resources, um,
and collaboration to actually coordinate the mission.
So lemme ask this question.
How much funding do we have available now and before they go back in
session next year? What's the, where are we at now?
So is your question about the f y 24 budget or currently what We have
2023. So, um, 23 currently, uh,
the resources that we've been provided through the end of this year is
$176 million. 56 of that is the money that, um, the,
this body appropriated, um,
as part of the annual appropriation and then the May appropriation. Um,
and so the remaining 120,
roughly $120 million has come from the state and the federal government.
Okay. Let me go to, um, the water. Um,
in terms of, um, U V R,
can someone just tell me now how is that helping the
disproportionately and give me a breakdown, uh, of, um,
how that's been spent? Who's received numbers, I mean numbers,
So it was just wanna verify the question.
You wanted numbers broken down by, uh,
Well, do you have it broken down by what?
Uh, I can get that to you.
Oh, okay. Mm-hmm. Then, then through the chair. Yep.
Uh, I'll get that through to the, to the chair.
It is a program when you asked about, uh, how it's helping a disadvantage
And, and are we, are we expanding the program? Yep. And how is it
the success of the program? Let me see, ask that question. Yep. Um,
as you see it.
Yeah. So, um, currently, uh, the focus is on, uh,
so the eligible recipients are 200% of the poverty line and below.
So it's focused primarily on low income individuals. Um, and,
uh, right now it's limited to single family homes and two flats.
Right? We had a whole discussion about this over the, over the past year,
um, to see if that 'cause the focus was supposed to be on families.
And it has been made clear to us that there's a lot of three flats where you
have maybe the,
the grandparents own the building and there's multiple generations in that.
And so we wanted to expand two three flats, um,
to cover those individuals.
And that's spread across a number of different world wards,
which we can provide kind of that map of data. Um,
and that should provide an additional 1.7 million impossible benefit
to, to those locations. Um, so far we had, uh,
to date 40,000 enrollments have expec, uh, uh,
successfully completed the program. Uh, so, uh,
48% of those are African American, 32%, uh, Hispanic.
Um, and that saved, uh,
low income homeowners about $22.5 million in rate reductions. Um,
so we, we do see that as being very significant.
What I'll say also is with the goals of the U B R program,
this is, a lot of this is,
is debt that is difficult for the city to collect because you have very low
income individuals and they can't afford that level.
So even though it's,
it's giving a break to the individuals that are below on that end,
it's still actually getting the city to have revenue coming in that in a lot of
situations would not be collected for potentially years. Um,
and then the individuals in that program get from out underneath that debt, uh,
uh, burden.
Okay. That's the same thing across the board for the parking tickets.
So yeah, so that's the C P R program. Um, and it's a similar,
uh, um, uh, level of, um, of,
uh, of, of, um, enrollment. So, uh, in terms of, uh,
those who qualify for those programs,
A D R A D R is the administrative debt one. That's the third bucket. Um,
those two are pilots that end at the end of the year.
We believe that those should be extended for that very reason. Um,
it's, it's trying to get, uh, at a similar problem with, uh,
lower income individuals in their debt load.
Okay. Um, the mayor had mentioned in the budget addressed about the roofing,
the porch, uh, program.
Can someone speak on that for me and what is that gonna look like moving
forward?
Sure. Thank you for the question. So, um,
this budget adds an additional $10 million in corporate funding to the home
repair program.
And that was really important for us to do after having several conversations
with Alders, um, with the Department of Housing about the, um,
I dunno if it's perceived or actual, um, uh,
lack of movement sometimes in that program.
And that's largely because it's been funded through grants as well as our debt
proceeds, which, um, has more restrictions, uh,
placed on it as to who's eligible.
And so adding the corporate funding to the program will allow us to design a
program that, um, has, uh, more flexibility Okay. Into how and who can, uh,
benefit from it. And so,
We'll, just a one day,
I'm sorry,
Hopefully not just the one day,
Uh, open for
Usually enroll, she's
Referring to as the, you only get to sign up on one day,
End up one day in lottery.
Right. So we're really excited. Um,
we'll be working with the Department of Housing over the next month to, uh,
put together and plan and I, uh, design for this, uh, part of the program,
and I believe that they've already talked to some elders about it. Um,
we do hope to be able to launch it, um, beginning of the year,
and I will take that note about it not just being one day Yes. Uh,
to sign up for it. Yeah. I think that that's important and we,
I think we'll have to do a lot of advertisement around it as well so that people
understand that it's available, um, when it's ready to be launched
And hopefully educate us about it before they do it as well. Yeah.
And I should say that the grant funding and the debt proceeds are still
available. Um, so we are still, it'll, this is a supplement on top of that.
So it's 10 million on top of about $12 million next year.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it.
Thank you. Altman. Mitch, uh, alderman Riley, followed by Alderman Burnett.
Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. And, uh, good afternoon. Um,
I wanted to note, uh, and I guess ask the question,
why didn't the, uh,
the Office of Budget Management engage in the practice of zero based budgeting
by department? Um,
this is something I've been advocating for since I got here in 2007. Um,
no administration has taken us up on this yet. Um, but that is the,
the easiest way to identify efficiencies in a budget is when you start from zero
and build it from the ground up. Um,
just because the department's always been run a certain way at certain staffing
levels doesn't mean it needs to be, uh, next year. Um,
could you speak briefly to why we still don't engage in zero-based
budgeting, um, like the state of Illinois does?
Sure. Thank you for the question. So I, you know, there are, uh,
differences of opinion on the, the best method for developing a budget. And,
and we do use, um, zero-based budgeting in certain aspects of how we develop.
Um, there are, um, uh,
you know, various methods that we use, whether it's priority based,
policy-based, uh, we do use zero based budgeting.
And so through a variety of different methods, uh,
we arrive at the budget that we have. I think, um, you know, there's, uh,
movement on a number of fronts including G F O A on how we rethink developing a
budget, um,
and recognizing that zero-based budgeting is just one aspect of doing that.
And so I think that from, from my standpoint, I'm new here. I'm still, uh,
getting, uh, acclimated and learning. Um, we will be looking at, uh,
the best way to, um, you know, go forward in developing the budget. But again,
I do recognize that that is, uh, one way and there are proponents who, um,
believe that that's the best way. Uh, I,
I think that we have to look at all the different, uh,
ways in which we can develop the best and most efficient budget for the city.
Very good. And, you know, obviously Chairman Irv,
and this is something that we as a council can talk about as well in
Springfield. Um,
the legislature will require the executive branch to
prepare budgets under very different scenarios. Um,
and they're able to do that because it is, it starts out as a zero based budget.
Um, if you were to direct a certain department, find 6% in savings,
they can do it if they start at, at at ground zero. Um,
I have a few rapid fire questions. I don't have a lot of time, uh,
through the chair.
Could you please provide us with the total number of vacant positions being
carried over with funding in 2024?
I know that in the book you've given us a department by department breakdown of
funded vacancies for 2024, but a total number would be helpful,
as well as the number of vacancies that are being eliminated across all
departments in the 2024 budget. Um,
also through the chair,
if you could please provide a list of all vacancies being funded in 2024 by
department, um, with salaries included, again, in one centralized,
uh, list. Um,
did O B M direct any of our departments to, uh,
consider, uh, a 4% or 5% across department cut,
uh, scenario?
Were there any scenarios you asked them to build for that would show a reduction
in spending by department?
We always, uh, request that departments, uh,
look for inefficiencies within their budgets,
which is one of the ways that we were able to close our budget gap. Um, just to,
um, back up a little bit, when it comes to the forecasting of the,
the budget each year, you know, that is, um, keeping our budget flat,
um,
with anticipated increases based on inflationary impacts or, um,
obligations that we know about.
So once we understand what those anticipated expenditures are,
we work very closely with our departments. We meet with them, and we say,
where can we find efficiencies, uh, without disturbing, uh, service provision?
And so that's where those efficiencies came from. Um, one thing we did, uh, do,
uh, with all of our departments,
and this was very clear in their meetings with the budget office, um, you know,
everyone wants more personnel. It's, it's, it's, it's not a, a secret that,
you know, we do a lot with very little, um, what we did, uh, state,
it's because of the just vast number of vacancies that we have in all of our
departments. Um, we, uh,
we asked them to prioritize instead of increasing headcount,
especially for departments that had very large vacancies, uh, we said, okay,
there's only so much that you can get done, and in a given year,
there's only so much hiring you can get done in a certain year. Um,
if there's a critical need that you have,
then we need to think about how we replace positions rather than necessarily,
um, increasing, except in those areas where we're creating new initiatives or,
um, uh, new programs. So that is, uh,
one thing that we did with each of our departments,
both looking for efficiencies and service delivery, but also, um,
prioritizing what the, the critical needs are for next year. Okay.
Uh, thank you. And, um, I noted in your comments that, um,
departments are achieving savings related to economizing and focusing on
initiatives that can be carried out in our current capacity. Um,
I, I don't need a lengthy explanation,
but perhaps through the chair you can provide a narrative on what exactly that
means. Um, does it mean we're asking departments to do less?
Are we canceling initiatives? Um, is it focusing on the core mission? But again,
short amount of time here, I'll, I'll ask for that through the chair. Um,
a big chunk of, of, uh, your al
I'm gonna ask her to answer that question. I'll hold the clock for you. Um,
So obviously it takes time to hire. Um, and so it's really, uh,
getting nitty gritty with departments to say,
when is that project actually gonna take effect? When is it gonna come online?
Knowing that you need to build capacity in order to accomplish that. Um,
so if it's not happening until third or fourth quarter,
then the amount of funding that you need to support the contract, um,
is less than a full year. That's what that means.
Understood. Thank you. And, um, you also mentioned in your remarks,
improved outlook for collections from revenue enforcement. And we,
I just got an explanation about the various waiver programs that are pilots and
that you're recommending that those continue. Uh, obviously, you know,
those folks who can least afford these things do need relief. Um,
we are waiving about $45 million annually in, in ticket revenues.
Um, and you,
you handed out our parking tickets issued by Ward that we all look forward to
every budget year. And I've noted that there is a dramatic,
dramatic drop off in parking tickets issued.
And based on my own anecdotal experience downtown,
that cannot be because of increased compliance, um,
what's going on? So for example, in 2022, in the 42nd ward alone,
272,000 parking tickets were issued, yet, well,
through, at least through the 1st of July,
we only have 111,000 issued downtown.
I'm noting a similar trend in the second ward.
Alderman Hopkins Ward is about half of what we would expect. Um,
it's a pretty dramatic, uh, drop off, um,
right now about 1.1 million behind what would be the annual.
Um, can you speak to that? Have we changed the way we're enforcing, uh,
our parking spaces? Thank
You. Uh, uh, and I appreciate the question. Uh, and if it's okay,
I'll answer it kind of in two ways. So, um,
to the revenue up until this point, uh,
we do see a lot of that revenue coming in the fall. Uh, I will say that we,
especially with parking violations,
and you'll probably understand that this is a lot around kind of enforcement
around schools. Um, so that is a part of that.
We do expect that revenue to close as we get to the end of the year. Um, we are,
uh, obviously advocating for the, uh, forgiveness programs,
but where the increased enforcement is coming is kind of two areas. So first,
and this is an area that I know you've advocated, uh, quite considerably for,
and that's improvements on our kind of bike lane enforcements, uh,
both in the smart streets area,
and then we have improved technology around that.
The issue that had been around there is the kind of camera equipment for
recording those violations and then getting that into court to kind of justify
those. We,
I believe we've come to a solution that we're working through with law on that
will increase that revenue, uh, in the upcoming year.
And then the next part is there's a lot of backlogged,
uncollected, uh, um,
debt that are not from low income individuals, not from kind of in,
quite frankly, in a lot of situations, not from people from the city of Chicago,
um, that we, uh, we have a, an a kind of plan for,
uh, to, to, um, increase the collections on. Okay. Uh, I'd,
I'd love to talk to you offline about that, if that makes
More sense. Okay. That sounds good. Uh,
just a couple more questions here in the first round, chairman. Um,
the casino was mentioned, um, obviously I'm not a huge fan of the,
the locations for that. Um,
but we are banking on $200 million in projected revenue once the permanent
casino opens, um,
supposedly in 2026 based on the first month of the temporary being open.
Um, how have revenues performed according to projection, uh,
after our first month of this, of the temporary being opened?
Sure, I can take that. The, uh, the first month, uh,
the temporary casino is not a month that we are gonna use for projections.
Uh, first of all, that was, uh, the casino opened on September 9th,
and we only have three weeks in that month. The second weekend that it was open,
the 16th and Seventeenths was Mexican Independence Day. And the, uh,
area around that was, uh, pretty much shut down.
And so there was a loss of a full weekend, which is the primary, uh,
revenue driver there, um, is the weekend activity. So there was a lo uh,
you know, a loss of that activity going on. Um, so for those reasons, it's not,
um, it's not a sufficient sub period that we can use to make any projections.
So we'll be looking for, uh, the second month after it's opened, uh, you know,
through October to, to have a little bit better sense. Well, through
The chair. I would like to see the first month, um,
of revenue generated versus what was projected there,
even if the city doesn't want to use that as a benchmark. Um,
the chairman,
my last question for first round is related to the TIF surplus initiative,
and I wanted to make sure that I am,
I'm reading the chart that you all distributed to us properly. Um,
Altman Vasquez and I looked at the guide to make sure we're reading it right.
Um, based on what I can see in the 42nd ward for the central business district,
you're looking to surplus about $180 million in tif,
um, leaving a balance of just over 11 million across those TIF funds.
Um, what does that mean for Mayor Light Foot's, um,
LaSalle Street Reimagined initiative that was, um,
focused on repurposing millions of square feet of vacant office space
into mixed use buildings to also supply affordable housing for workers closer
to where they work downtown. Um, that was a very ambitious program with huge,
huge cost associated. Um, what can we expect there?
We're getting a lot of questions from interested landlords downtown.
As you all know, our vacancy rates are, are through the roof. Um,
and there's a real concern that this could be a downward spiral when it comes to
our property tax base. The longer these commercial buildings are vacant,
the more likely that the values will drop, that impacts our, our tax base.
Could you speak to that very quickly and then I'll,
I'll say the rest for round two Chairman. Thank you.
Um, sure. I think, uh, both myself and, and Jill will,
will respond to your question. So thank you. Um,
I just wanna be really clear about the surplus,
and I believe that we've reached out to a couple of elders already to set up
meetings about your particular TIFF districts. Um, what is,
what is included in the surplus is the amounts that are not allocated, uh,
for any planned projects. We're able to forecast out across several years, um,
and have encumbered, uh,
funding in future years for any projects that are already planned, um,
have gone through tick, um, um, uh, committees and so forth.
So the amount that we're surplus into 2024 is purely the amount within TIF
districts that, um, have not been allocated to any project planned or, um,
uh, moving forward. Um, as it relates to LaSalle Street Reimagined, um,
as you probably know, the, uh, projects for those, uh, particular, uh,
TIF districts weren't planned until, I believe,
starting in 2025 or 2026. Um, and so this funding,
uh, that is being surplus, uh, would not impact any of those, uh,
planned projects. Jill, do you wanna add?
Sure, yeah. The, the, again, with LaSalle Street,
the money that's been surplus is unallocated. Um,
there are a number of projects that, uh,
department of Planning Development Department of Housing, um,
continue to go through. Um, one of the, um, aspects they're looking at is, uh,
reviewing everyone's, uh, capital stack. Uh, interest rates have gone up,
and so, uh, there's a need to definitely review, um, those proposals again.
And they're continuing to do that,
and we'll be making some determinations as to which projects we'll be moving
forward. But they, they are, uh, continuing to examine them currently.
You don't have anything to add to that? No, no, certainly. Alright,
thank you Alderman. Uh, Riley, you want to sign up for round two? Yes, please.
Okay. Very well, uh, alderman Burnett followed Baldman Dowell.
Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Of course. Um,
I had the same concern about the Tiffs being that myself and, uh, and,
uh, the 34th award, uh, over $200 million and tiffs surplus,
wanna make sure that everything is done in my ward that,
that we have planned to be done in my ward. But also, uh,
somewhat concerned about, like, for, for instance, McKinsey tip. You don't show,
you don't show a minimum balance there. It's blank, right? What's,
what's the balance?
These are areas where we supposed to have the Democratic Convention coming in
next year,
don't know if we gonna need any money to spoof up stuff or whatever the case may
be in reference to that. So I want to, I want to take a deep dive on,
on looking at these things so we can really project, you know,
what we may need to have also,
in particular in McKinsey tiff, there was a, uh,
there was a policy made by the former administration that
10% is supposed to be 30% affordable housing in McKinsey, tiff,
that did not happen.
Where 20% is automatic and extra 10% supposed to
come from the TIFs and other city funds.
And the city hasn't made any commitment for those things.
And we have several projects, maybe,
probably 10 to 20 projects developments that did not get that money.
So I'm concerned about that. That money should have been,
it shouldn't have been a surplus.
That money should have been used for affordable housing.
So I want to look at that also. Okay. So I want to go over that with you. Also.
At the same time, I want to look at our neighborhood opportunity funds.
Most of the neighborhood opportunity funds come from my ward,
and it's supposed to be 10% that goes back into the ward.
I wanna see where that money is and, and, and, and,
and stop focusing on what the plan is for utilizing that money that's supposed
to go back to the ward. And, um,
also I'm concerned about the, um, and, you know,
we're happy to share, right? We've been sharing with our tips for many years,
but as long as I get something back for my ward,
I gotta bring something back home. So also, we're concerned about, um,
I see in the, um, department of Family and Supportive Services,
you all have 12 new positions that you made for, uh, new,
new arrivals. There's a whole new budget for new arrivals. Uh,
and, and that's, um, what is that? It's 13,
is it 13 positions? 12 positions for new arrivals.
And I'm concerned about the returning residents. Um,
supposed to have a, a position for returning residents that,
that I advocated for, and we had a task force for,
and they're supposed to be in the department of, uh, policy, or y'all put 'em,
I guess you put 'em under three other, two other departments.
But that's being paid for outta op money, which is gonna expire.
How are you gonna put 12 permanent positions in for returning for new
arrivals and nothing in no permanent positions in for returning
residents. I like to see you got 12 positions that's permanent, that,
that look like it's gonna be permanent for these new arrivals and nothing for
returning residents who are citizens that are here in the city of Chicago that
need help also to be able to sustain themselves back into, uh,
society also. So, I I, I'm concerned about that. And,
and I'm not talking about one,
the one position that we have that's being paid for outta our money.
I'm talking about more than one position. I need a, the,
you got a deputy commissioner? Well, I'm trying to look for it.
I had it a minute ago. But you have a deputy,
you have a whole office for new arrivals,
and I wanna see the same thing for returning residents. Can you answer that?
Yes. Thank you. Um, so I, I think I'm, uh, there was a lot in there.
So I'm wanna try my best to,
It's 13 positions for new arrivals. You got deputy commissioner,
community intervention specialists, director of homeless prevention,
policy operator, analyst, project manager, and so on.
Yes. So, um, a, a couple of things to, to, to note there.
Um, one, um, we do have to spend down our ARPA dollars. Um, that is,
that is, that's imperative and something that we need to, to, to do. Um,
there is, uh, limitations on using ARPA dollars on new arrivals.
Um, and so that's one reason why that's not being funded out of there. Um, in,
in speaking with D F S Ss, and,
and this'll definitely probably come up during their department hearing, uh,
this new, uh,
office of New Arrivals actually report up to the managing deputy who is over
the homeless, uh, services division.
And the idea there is we need to build capacity across the board, um,
not just for new arrivals,
but for all of our services that are provided to the unhoused. Um, you know,
I don't know how long the new arrivals mission will, um, will last. Um,
you know, we keep pushing, uh, for a federal solution,
but what we do know is that across the city of Chicago, we,
we need to address our unhoused population. So, uh,
these permanent positions will ultimately be working on that as well. Um,
and so that is why it's important for us to build that capacity now.
So the returning residents come here, probably with the,
the returning residents come back to the city of Chicago with less than what the
new arrivals have. And we need to have something permanent.
I know you using the ARC money, I'm fine with that.
I'm fine with you spending money on the new arrivals.
I'm saying gimme some of those positions.
Give us some of those positions for returning residents. You got 12 positions,
13th positions for returning for new arrivals, and no, no positions for new,
for returning residents.
We need some positions for returning residents so we can have a full operation
to be able to help deal with these people and help them to get reincorporated
into our society more so than these new people coming to our society who haven't
been here. Right. We need to help ours too.
I'm not saying don't help the new arrivals. I'm saying help both.
So, so we need to cut that up.
I know this isn't a perfect answer for you. And I'm, I'm, um,
I welcome the continued conversation on this. Um, there's two positions, uh,
for reentry that are currently in the budget. Um, and, uh,
a lot of funding that's going to delegate agencies,
which actually expands the capacity and adds more people to supplement the,
the additional, uh, two that are currently, uh, city employees.
So I think that the idea is to build and build up the capacity, um,
so that we can, you know, uh, provide those services beyond, you know, the,
the term of this grant. So I welcome the conversation.
I know this is probably gonna be a, a,
a continuing conversation with our departments as well.
Well, I don't just want a conversation, I wanna vote on this budget,
but I want something for returning residents. Do you understand what I'm saying?
I, I'm,
I cannot see myself voting for 13 new positions for new arrivals and
no new positions for returning residents. So we,
we wanna make sure that you cut that power up.
Uh, could you provide in, in, in response to, uh, alderman Burnett's point,
uh, the amount, uh, going to delegate agencies as well as the positions,
uh, for returning, uh, citizens, uh, in this budget,
ARPA and regular corporate funds?
Yes. We can get that through the chair.
I'm done.
Is it okay?
I don't wanna keep talking. I just get mad so I
Keep talking. Be alright.
Uh, I think we had, uh, alderman, uh, do followed Alderman Quinn.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, director Uzman,
I would like to see, you know, we all this, um,
new arrival stuff is in lots of different places,
right? You've got five new positions in O E M C.
You've got 13 new positions in the department of, uh,
family and support services. Um,
we've got the delegate agency,
the R F P that we're doing the shelter support, um,
150 million in finance General,
I want you to give us a new arrival budget.
I wanna know the program, I wanna know the amount.
I wanna know staffing,
and I want to know the source of funding so that it's all in one
place and we're not searching under rocks
to find where all this money is. I want you to be transparent in giving us that.
Can you do that?
Yes, we can. We can provide that to you.
Thank you. Um,
through the chair. So
Through the chair, all of those requests, uh,
all of those requests will be given to everyone. You'll be able to see that, uh,
as they come back from budget, they'll be posted or emailed. I,
I gotta see which method is gonna be used to everyone.
So you'll get anything that's being asked for, everyone will have access to.
Okay.
Thank, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, you mentioned also, or saw,
read somewhere that you've, uh,
set aside a hundred million dollars for anti-violence. Um,
I wanna know the approximate breakdown of, uh,
the gender-based violence piece. The youth intervention,
the Community Safety Coordinating Center, the reentry housing,
and the domestic violence. How is that being broken down?
That 100 million? I don't want that through the chair.
Do you know the answer to that? Now?
I know the answer to some of that. I can definitely break down some of it. So,
um, there's a lot, um, related to, uh, G B V,
um, whether it's rapid rehousing, um,
education victim services to the young people.
So just for rapid rehousing in 2024, uh, for G B V,
there's $4.2 million.
The emergency fund for G B V survivors and legal services for G B V
survivors is over $6 million. Uh,
G B V prevention training is $1 million. Um,
G B V victim services to young people is, uh, $4.8 million.
And then, um, we have funding, um,
for D F S S on our C R P bond, uh,
for gender-based violence reduction of about $5 million.
How much is that Community Safety Coordinating Center getting,
Um, in 24? Uh, uh, it's, uh, it's part of our RPA funding,
so it's $13.9 million.
And the youth intervention is that, um,
uh, violence interruption?
I'm actually not sure I can, I can find out, um, uh, exactly what, uh,
is under that umbrella.
Okay. Well, I'll, I'll take through the chair then.
The breakdown of the $100 million for anti-violence efforts in the city of
Chicago.
Absolutely.
Okay. Um, I heard Kofa mention that C D B G was zeroed out.
Is that meaning that the C D B G program is over?
No, uh, not at all. So we receive, um, hun you know,
millions of millions of dollars from HUD every single year through our
entitlement grants. Um, and they fund, uh,
a number of different programs throughout, uh,
across several different departments. In fact, um,
we are using C D B G G parts of C D B G funds for our lead service line
replacement, um, our home modification, uh, program for M O P D and so forth.
So it's not, it's not zeroed out.
Did you know what that was referring to in that presentation?
I've, I've never seen that presentation, so I, I can't speak to, um,
the numbers that were all right. Reflected in there.
We'll move on. Um,
C F O Jaworski, um, I saw that you are doing about,
uh, 89 $90 million in bond re financing.
Can you just give some color to that?
Sure.
About $70 million to that is a refinancing that we expect to complete in
the fourth quarter of 2024. Um,
we will be refunding, uh,
a combination of general obligation and sales tax securitization corporation
bonds to generate those savings. Um, the balance of that, the,
uh, in $19 million is, um, actually, uh,
from a refunding that has already been completed,
that was completed in the spring. It's a reallocation of a tax levy,
um, uh, that, uh, we've freed up the debt for.
Okay. And to, uh,
comptroller Red Winkle doing good. Um,
uh, last year there was, at this time,
there was an R F P that was going out for a third party administrator mm-hmm.
For the cash management and prompt payment program part of your
department who got that contract?
Uh, I have to double check on, on the, on the specific individual. Uh,
we were still going through that process though. Um, and I,
I just blanked on who, it's,
I'll get it to you. Okay. And how much is that contract for?
And who are the M B E and W B E partners for that contract?
I'll have to provide that,
The chair. Um,
I guess my last question for now is the online boot release
program. Yep. Did that get implemented?
Yeah, so, uh, we do have online boot release, and then they're at the kiosks as
Well. All right. And how much have we been generating from that so far?
Do you know? Uh,
I don't have that broken down, but I can get it to you. Okay.
Through the chair. Uh, those are my questions right now.
Um, I really wanna see a, um,
you know, the, um, new arrival budget.
That's clear. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Uh, Alman Alman Quinn, uh, followed by
Alderman osha. If he comes back,
I'm trying to see if lunch is almost ready for us to start,
but we'll start with you Alderman Quinn, and now we'll see what happens.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hold on. Hold on. Uh, alderman Quinn, uh, alderman
Point of information. I, I know we're asking for a lot of, uh,
information through the chair. Um,
what's the timeline we're supposed to see these things?
Uh, I'll allow, uh,
Me
'cause we would like Nick Guzman to respond to that.
Yeah, absolutely. We endeavor to get these back within three days, um,
three business days. And that's to allow us to,
'cause some of this information isn't in the budget office.
We have to work with departments to, to ascertain it. Okay.
Thank you. No problem. Chairman Dow
With your indulgence. Um,
I had one more question, which was the, uh, in your remarks,
director Guzman, you talked about, uh,
high impact programs with the history of successfully spending down their ARPA
allocations. Can you give some examples of such as,
what are examples of those kind of programs?
Sure. And I am still, um, embarking on the analysis to identify that. But, um,
think programs that have direct beneficiary payments, so, um,
our D B I program, uh, guaranteed basic income would be one example of that. Um,
when you, um, have beneficiary programs,
those are dollars out the door directly in people's hands as opposed to,
um, uh, funding that might go to a delegate agency or a contractor to,
uh, administer a program. And that's really based on estimates of, you know,
the work that they'll do or accomplish. Um, and so it's, it's less, um,
certain if they will reach milestones or achieve goals, um,
in their spend down. So, um,
I'm thinking about the programs that have direct beneficiaries
Related to that. Okay.
So when you talk about shifting the funding from programs at risk of not
spending to more high impact, easy to spend programs. Yeah.
And that's,
that's primarily important because if we don't either obligate the dollars or
spend them, we have to give it back to the treasury.
We don't wanna give any money back. Can
We get a list through the chair of what are, um, uh,
candidates for those kinds of shifts?
So I don't have those yet. So it'll take us, um, uh,
some time to do this analysis.
It's a pretty involved analysis that takes into account not only, um,
what programs already have contracts in place, what the stakeholder, um,
engagement would be, and, um, in shifting dollars from one program to another.
Um, so, um, as I, um, I don't think you were, uh,
able to attend my briefing yesterday, but, uh,
our intention is to conduct that analysis over the next several months and come
before this body in, um, beginning of next year with those recommendations.
Okay. So we won't know that before it's time to pass the budget.
We won't, we're not making any shifts as part of this budget.
All right. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, alderman Quinn.
Thank you. Uh, just quickly before we go to Alderman Quinn.
So in the, um, grant detail
is we show, uh,
$18 million for professional and technical services
in relation to, um,
arpa. Is that what you all are looking to do,
or is that something different?
I, I'm, can I see exactly what you're looking at?
Page nine of the grant detail. Okay.
One second.
Um, so this is related to, um, the,
the funding set aside for our consultants who help us with the administration of
arpa. There's a lot that goes into both reporting back to the treasury,
but also, um, uh, preparing, um,
eligibility analysis related to each of the initiatives, um,
doing compliance reviews and so forth.
So that, is that a part of what she's asking for? Is that something different
That's different? That's different? Uh, I think what if I'm,
if I'm may maybe as bold as to restate, um,
Alder alderwoman dos or chairwoman dos, uh, request. It's, um,
to provide a list or an analysis of the recommendations where we would be
shifting funding from, uh,
programs that are at risk of not spending to programs that we have a, um,
confidence of high likelihood of spending. Is that, did I get that correct?
Yes, that's accurate. Um, and also I'd like to know how much money is that?
Yeah, that that'll, that'll take us a, a while to get.
And as I mentioned earlier, um, it's not a part of this, uh,
budget proposal that, um,
analysis will be happening over the next several weeks. Do
You know approximately how much we are dealing with in this area?
I, um, I don't, we have to d we have to really dig into this. I will say,
you know, when I came in, um, in, uh, into this role, uh,
in May, that was one of the first things I,
I started to try to dig into is how the city of Chicago, um, uh,
um, did their ARPA plan. Um, I come, you know, as you know,
I come from the county side and,
and we had a different approach to how we program these dollars. Um,
and so one of the things I'm looking forward to is digging in, um, uh,
trying to provide more transparency into how, um, we've obligated the dollars,
where those dollars will ultimately go,
and then how we make sure that we're spending them, um,
by the end of the grant period. So we, you know,
really have to dig in my office along with our consultants to prepare that
recommendation for city council. And I don't have a,
a top dollar amount right now. Thank
You. Thank you. Uh, thank you Chairman Dow. Um,
as it relates to that last component of the professional and technical services
on what you just discussed, um, you can, um,
submit to the committee a breakdown, uh, of the who's in the,
uh,
M W B and DBEs and DBEs on that particular set of
contracts for us.
Will do
Alderman
Quinn. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um,
the total number of police on the job today,
Um, I, I don't have that, but I can get that to you. Okay.
Um, total, total number of police that can retire next year.
I, I don't have it. I'll have to get that to you. Okay.
Um, and how many police can we hire next year?
So, um, roughly, uh, are, are you talking about patrol officers or Yes,
ma'am. Are all police officers, parole officers? Um,
I'll have to get that number to you.
Okay. I'm, I'm a little concerned because, you know, the mayor's address
Hold up, hold up, hold up, hold up.
We've got to know how many police officers that we're going to
that are on the books today,
how many that are we plan that are going to a trick and
what our hiring plan is. That's, that's something that we should know.
And before we leave today, we need to know what that number is. We'll get that.
That's, that's, that's, we gotta do that.
Thanks, Mr. Chairman. I was beginning to say that in, in the mayor's address,
you talked about promoting a 100 detectives.
If we don't know what we have to deal with here, we have a real problem. Um,
the 400 civilian PO positions, um,
are they union positions? What, what, what do these positions look like?
Just gimme one second. I
Appreciate you holding my time, Mr. Chairman.
So, um,
the civilian based positions are in various areas of
C P D, uh, for next year, um, including within, uh, their,
um, unit that will be looking to enhance investigations. Uh, we're talking,
um, uh, positions like, uh, criminal intel intelligence analysts,
um, crime advocates, uh,
within their victim services units. Um,
we're also looking at outreach, um, uh, um,
positions within, uh, uh, a, a number of their divisions across the,
Okay.
I would just hope that there'd be a tighter explanation because you're talking
about that and you're opening remarks about a savings.
So that wasn't exactly the detail I was looking for.
We can get you that detail. Yeah.
Very, very important. And I guess a follow up question will be,
retired officers qualify for some of these positions. Seems like we have a, a a,
uh,
a group of retired officers that'd be willing to lend a hand and we could tap
into that ex expertise. Um, sticking on, uh, law enforcement, is there a,
is there a helicopter in the budget?
There's a carryover funding for the helicopter.
Just one. Um, I
Believe there're,
I think w I think W G N has a better fleet than we do today.
Um, I believe that there, um,
are two helicopters that are budgeted within the budget.
Do we know when they're gonna come online?
Um, I believe that they're working through the contracting for that.
I don't know these
Things. And that's so important because the backend of, um,
these chases is we're paying out in the finance committee,
so it makes good sense for us to have a fleet of helicopters,
not one or one and a half, or hope one starts when it doesn't rain. Um,
it's really important that we get that.
So, um, I,
I believe that it is slated to come online in quarter four of next year. Um,
there's really like one, or after,
After the convention,
There's really like one or two, uh, manufacturers of these types of helicopters.
And there are, and we have been dealing with supply shortages, um, as you, uh,
can imagine. Um, and I dealt with this on the county side,
and we were told there is a war in Ukraine. And so I will tell you that
There aren't, like, do we have on Chase policy in Chicago? Right?
And that's leading to a lot of crime with converter thefts, um, with,
with jackings, with break-ins, no Chase policy.
So in order for us to get any sort of enforcement will be through the air.
Oh, I, I don't, I don't disagree.
I I think that there are realities of our procurement. I don
Quite my time is running. Can you tell me,
the mayor talked in his remarks about four, um, new departments.
Can you talks, talk to me about the total cost, those departments. So, uh,
environment office, community safety,
department of Technology and Labor Standards. What's the total cost?
Um,
so the cost for the Department of Environment is about $1.8 million.
Um, the Department of Technology and Innovation, lemme just get that for you.
Thank you. Uh, the total cost for the Department of Technology, um,
and innovation for next year is slated to be, um, 70,
uh, $9 million. And, uh, the department, I'm sorry,
the Office of Labor Standards is within the, um, the bureau of,
um, sorry, the Business Business Affairs and, uh, uh,
consumer protection. And that is slated to be an additional,
additional just under about 600, uh, thousand dollars. Okay.
And, uh, office Community Safety.
The office, oh, you mean within the, um, mayor's office?
Is that what you're asking?
Yes,
The Office of Community Safety within the Mayor's office. Uh,
just over a million dollars.
Okay. So we're, we're over, we're over 10 million in new programming. Okay. Um,
how many, how many, uh,
employees in your 2024 budget proposal make more than $200,000?
Um, uh, across all departments?
Yes.
Um, I'd have to get that to you.
Okay. Um,
I'm looking at page 66 where it talks about, um,
alderman, the Alder al for Alderman Alderman staff.
There is a, um, a $300,000 increase.
That's all for the three Alderman staff. I, I sort of use the,
this as a slap in the face.
So that comes to $6,187 between three staff
or 2006, uh,
$62 and 48 cents for one staffer. Um,
we have to do better than that as a city.
These staff are on the front lines of city government. It's an absolute, uh,
slap in their face. Uh, to,
to have to pick up the phone every single day at constituent service offices and
be the front lines of city government and not have a regular, uh,
increase in their salary. We have to do better as a city. Um,
moving on. Um, is there a plan to, to, uh,
buy new garbage trucks?
I get complaints all the time about leaky garbage trucks.
Um, it's not my understanding that we have a plan to, uh,
outside of our capital plan that's already been, um, uh,
approved by this council.
Okay. Uh, any plan? I'm bringing on additional laborers
Within which department?
Uh, streets and sanitation for garbage.
Um, we did not increase their, uh, garbage, uh, bureau for f y
So just so I'm clear, no plan to, to buy new garbage trucks.
So we're not gonna deal with the leaking ones.
I just want this on the record and no plan to, to, to hire additional laborers.
And you'll let me know how many employees we have that are making more than
$200,000. Okay. No further questions. Mr. Chairman?
Thank you. Alderman Quinn? Uh, osha you ready?
No questions or you just not ready? No questions. No questions.
Alderman Spaza had no questions.
Silverstein in the back? No. Okay. Silverstein
Alderman Mitchell, we, we got a list. Everybody just for the record.
Everybody's on the list. Everybody's on the list. We just going, going down.
Not at this time. Altman Moore, you ready?
Yeah. Let's go ahead and get started. Uh,
First of all, uh, thank you so much, uh, for the work that you, uh,
put into this budget director and your team. Um, and,
and the statement from the, um, controller,
um, we talked about the utility bill relief program.
We talked about the clear path and all these, um,
and administrative hearings, relief program,
all these things that was implemented under the previous administration. And,
and I heard compliments about it. And, and,
but you need to understand what was built. 'cause I want this for the record,
what you had to understand,
what was built into making sure that there was relief. Um, for,
um, these residents,
which I voted for that I agree with was the C P I index,
um, for property taxes. And just like I told Rom Emanuel when he was,
when,
when I first got in office and he didn't do an increase and had to come back the
following year and do a $500 million property tax increase when we really needed
a 800 million. And then the,
the mayoral Lori Lightfoot came in and did that 300 million because it was
needed, we cannot kick this can down the road.
And I'll go on the record saying that the only way we can pay for these things
are to stay up with C P I on, uh, property taxes.
Now with that said, let me jump to number question eight. What are,
um, the one time
non-reoccurring source of revenue in this proposed budget?
Um, so in addition to, um,
uh, we, uh, um, did an additional, uh, um,
use of our prior year fund balance, um, and into f y uh,
24. So that's the main, uh, use of one-time resources for next year. Um,
you know, you could also add to that the TIF surplus.
We have a difference of opinion as to whether, whether that's onetime or not.
But, um, the prior year fund balance and the TIF surplus
First time, say, just provide that whole list through the chair,
the onetime and the total amount of those, please. Sure. Um,
my next question, when we talked about,
when we talk about spending additional 600,000 on the Office of Labor Standards,
um, what were these resources before?
I'm sorry, could you repeat the question?
We we're spending additional 600,000 in the Office of Labor Standards,
right?
Yes.
Were these resources somewhere before?
No, this is additional staff within the, uh, um, uh,
department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.
Okay. And when we're facing this shortfall,
what is the importance of spending this money right now?
Uh, as a priority of the mayors to ensure, uh,
that we have the staff in place, um,
especially as additional legislation comes online, this, this, um,
council voted last week on one fair wage. Um, in order to make sure that we are,
um, analyzing and reviewing and, um, enforcing those types of, uh,
of ordinances. We need additional staff to do that.
Okay.
Let me go to my other set of questions if I can find them.
We talked about 260, um, interns. Um, part,
are the two our 260 interns part of the 4,000 or is that additional?
That's additional.
Okay. And we're the city, we're paying for all of this, correct?
I'm
Sorry, the city, we are paying for all of this. This is all in our budget,
correct? That's correct. So that's 4,260. Did we, because I just remember under,
uh, I think it was the Emanuel administration, if I'm not mistaken.
Did we, or are we,
or have we reached out to corporate partners to, um,
take on some of this so we can have additional jobs? And if so,
what is that number that corporate partners agreed to?
Because I remember under the Emmanuel Adminis administration,
we funded some through our, um, um,
program and then the corporations they find as same.
And we saw we had a certain number of extra jobs that we reach out to our
corporate partners. And if so, how many of those jobs did we get?
We're absolutely working with corporations throughout the city of Chicago to,
um, create, um, and sustain, uh, employment opportunities for youth.
Um, I don't have the, the data on the number of opportunities that that was,
that created this year or, um,
what the number is for next year is 'cause obviously that's not paid through our
budget. Um, but we can, um,
work with the mayor's office to provide that data and information for you.
Okay. Uh, I'm definitely supportive of, um, mental health, um,
services,
but have we looked at instead of the city providing these direct services,
um,
have we looked at partnering with the county who already have an infrastructure
in place? So
I, I can't speak, uh, specifically on the conversations between our, um, uh,
department of Public Health and Cook County,
but I do know that there have been conversations, um, uh,
about how to collaborate, uh, to provide mental health services for, uh,
those within our region. But I don't have the specifics on, uh,
what that's gonna look like in the future. Yeah.
Because I think that that'd be a cost benefit, um, savings for us.
'cause we shouldn't have, trying to build an infrastructure is gonna be,
you know what I'm saying? It's gonna be somewhat costly.
So when you say you can't talk to it, is,
is there some information out there that, uh,
has some analysis been done at all?
I think this is the job of the working group that was esta that is to be
established under the, um, uh, treatment, not trauma ordinance,
is to look at all the routes and possibilities for the provision of health,
mental health services.
Okay. I'm trying to find out in my note where I saw this, but I wrote,
because between the meetings yesterday, last night and, um,
the budget hearing, I,
I think I came up with like 58, 58 $0.2 million in savings, um,
from refunding for, um, from refunding the debt is,
um, how you extracting this $58.2 million,
especially in this high interest rate environment.
And I I how were you coming up?
The 58.2 savings?
Sure. Uh, the total amount that we have in the budget, can
You speak up please? Or is that the Sure. Probably upstairs. I don't,
Yeah. The total amount that we have in the budget is 89 million. Uh,
and 19 million of that is from a transaction that was already completed. The,
uh, balance of that $70 million in saving,
we are expecting to do that refunding transaction, uh,
next year in quarter four. Um,
it will be a combination of general obligation and sales tax securitization
bonds. Um, despite the fact that interest rates are higher,
we have a lot of high coupon debt outstanding. Uh,
and as, uh, those as, uh, time goes on and those bonds become shorter, uh,
you know, a 30 year bond becomes a 20 year bond.
A 20 year bond becomes a 10 year. Um, when we get to the call dates,
we have opportunities generally to refund them. Um,
we won't get as much savings as when interest rates were 2%,
but we will still generate, um, significant savings, um, is our expectation.
Uh, there's always a risk that interest rates will go up even further and that,
that we will not be able to realize that. But, uh,
we believe based on reasonable expectations that we will be able to generate
those savings.
Yeah, I'll come back to that. Um,
Derman Queen asked one of my questions that you're providing through the chair
with the number of employees that I'm making, um, $200,000.
I also would be interested in knowing how many people are making, um,
over a hundred thousand dollars compared to five years ago. Just not,
not total in terms of everybody making a hundred thousand just compared to five
years ago. If you can provide that through the chair as well.
Um,
I think someone answered the $10 million added to the home payroll program and
you guys working on rolling that out. So you,
are you specifically saying you're not gonna put that 10 million in a lottery?
It's gonna be more, it's gonna be more, I mean,
more readily accessible than the residents going through a lottery.
Um, so the program designs are still being worked out,
but we have heard loud and clear, um, that the, the feedback, uh, based on,
um, prior iterations of the program.
And so we'll be building it in collaboration with, uh,
the Department of Housing and, uh, the feedback that we've received from Alders.
So, um, I don't think that we intend to do a lottery, uh,
because of the feedback that we've received
And going to the 400, um, officers that we're putting back on the street,
um, from the mayor's budget address. Um, can you provide through the chair,
unless you know right now, the average age of those officers?
I will provide that through the chair.
Okay. Um,
and the 250 million in homeless support, so that two 50,
is it fair to say based on what we heard today,
that 2 51 50 of that is for the asylum seekers? Or that is,
is that another separate two 50?
That's separate.
Okay.
And that money is coming from where just the savings of what we talked about in
terms of the projected savings and better than expected revenues.
That's where that 2 5200 50 million is coming from.
Where's that two 50 million come?
It's a, it's a combination of a,
a number of funding sources including ARPA corporate, uh, uh,
bonds and, uh, grants
Per. Okay. And break that down through the chair for bit,
like what is ARPA of that two 50 and, you know, all the other things.
Uh, we have to stop right there and I have to do a round two chairman.
Round
Two two, yes,
that is fine. Uh, also like to recognize, uh,
alderman Helen Schiller. I didn't see you back there.
I know this is your favorite season of the year. Um, so, um,
please pass the questions to everybody so we all can have a,
a cheat sheet as well. So, uh,
very well, um, we're gonna take, we're ready for, uh, lunch.
We're gonna take a break now, uh, one 30. We're going to, uh,
return at two 30 and, uh, we will start, uh, back at two 30.
Committee at ease.
Okay, my apologies. Uh, lunch will be served in the lobby of the third floor,
uh, Sergeant at Arms and his team is, uh, set aside a nice space for us.
So we will, uh, have lunch upstairs.