Committee on Budget and Government Operations meeting, November 10, 2025

• When: Mon, Nov 10, 2025, 2:00 PM (Chicago time)
• Where: City Council Chamber, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street - Chicago, IL 60602
• Status: Scheduled & Published
• Committee: Committee on Budget and Government Operations
• Video: https://vimeo.com/showcase/8925576?video=1135464185
• Transcript: full text (44,639 words, automatic captions)

Meeting notes

AI-written from the transcript. Speakers are inferred from cues in the recording, so treat names as estimates and check the video at the linked time.

The Committee on Budget and Government Operations held a subject matter hearing on the Ernst & Young (EY) report on financial and strategic reform, released October 16, 2025, with the budget director, the chief financial officer and EY's engagement lead; no vote was taken. The budget director said the review covered nine work streams and more than 100 options, and that the 2026 proposed budget includes about $80 million in cost reductions drawn from it, with many other options to be phased in over time; EY said its work was an operational review, not an audit, and did not evaluate the mayor's proposed budget. Members asked about special event cost recovery, fleet management, procurement practices and off-contract spending, civilianization of police positions, employee benefits, real estate, fines and fees, the report's scope and $3 million cost, and minority participation in the contract, and several members urged the administration to identify more savings before the budget vote. The chair closed by saying members also need to propose specific solutions and that the council must pass a budget.

Topics: EY efficiency report, 2026 budget, structural deficit, special event cost recovery, fleet management, procurement reform, police civilianization, employee benefits, fines and fees, real estate consolidation

Agenda items discussed

• 40:42 Subject matter hearing on the OBM and Ernst & Young report on financial and strategic reform: discussed

Alderpersons who spoke

• Jason C. Ervin (chair): Asked the budget director about the rationale for engaging EY, how it differed from an audit, and how reforms would protect workers and services. (58:40); Asked EY to compare the Chicago review with work done in peer cities. (1:06:54); Asked whether moving officers to civilian roles would bring Chicago in line with peer cities and requested a list of functions that could be civilianized. (2:22:52)
• Nicole T. Lee (alderperson): Asked for the projected first-year financial impact of fleet recommendations and the pre-work required. (1:11:34); Asked how peer cities use vehicle warranties and whether the city could save more by using them better. (1:15:16); Requested a list of departments with procurement authority outside DPS and asked how many firms were considered for the EY contract. (4:08:23)
• Anthony Beale (alderperson): Asked EY whether it had full access to city data and which large savings options were not included in the budget. (1:21:32); Asked why labor cost discussions waited for a report given that personnel is the largest cost driver. (1:28:49); Said the $80 million in cuts was insufficient and that the administration needed to cut more deeply. (1:30:52)
• Michelle A. Harris (alderperson): Asked whether peer city comparisons account for Chicago's largely unionized workforce. (1:32:14); Asked whether EY looked at the city's outstanding collections. (1:36:14)
• Pat Dowell (alderperson): Said constituents want the city to hold the line on spending and asked about uncollected special event costs. (1:37:20); Asked whether EY findings could be placed in a management ordinance to ensure action in 2026. (1:41:50); Asked where the $13 million for audits and cost recovery is in the budget and how much is for special events. (1:44:03)
• Scott Waguespack (alderperson): Said the level of incorporation of the report was unacceptable and urged the administration to return with more options. (1:45:46); Asked what a second phase of the EY agreement would entail. (1:46:18); Asked about off-contract spending and the report's finding that procurement policies lacked foundational fraud prevention information. (1:48:15)
• Samantha Nugent (alderperson): Asked what foundational information was missing from Department of Procurement Services policies. (1:52:07); Asked whether unclear ownership of vendor management between DPS and DOF is common in other cities. (3:07:35); Raised concern about one vendor holding multiple contracts across departments and asked how to consolidate them. (3:09:39)
• Brendan Reilly (alderperson): Asked what was excluded from EY's scope and whether EY needed permission to look beyond the task order. (1:54:44); Questioned paying EY $3 million to identify a manager-to-employee ratio problem he said he had raised for years. (1:58:48); Said the current deficit was predicted last year and criticized the administration for not taking ownership of the prior budget. (1:59:54)
• Matthew J. O'Shea (alderperson): Said the administration waited until April to engage EY despite a known budget gap and asked what peer cities have implemented. (2:04:19); Called the proposed budget incomplete and said members must seek more cuts and efficiencies before raising taxes and fees. (2:06:28); Questioned the city paying for car washes for its vehicles. (3:46:52)
• Brian Hopkins (alderperson): Asked which peer agencies were used to compare Chicago police civilian-to-sworn ratios and whether OEMC and other civilian public safety roles were considered. (2:09:19); Asked whether civilian positions cost less than sworn positions and whether there is a benchmark ratio. (2:12:36); Asked about the pending workforce allocation study and said staffing shortages suggest the city lacks enough patrol officers. (2:15:27)
• Raymond A. Lopez (alderperson): Asked which budget years the EY analysis used and whether mixing years across work streams was standard practice. (2:26:58); Said the report should have addressed debt, workforce reduction, revenue and economic growth, and asked what priorities the client set. (2:30:08); Told the chair it was within the consultant's ability to explain the priorities given to EY. (2:32:09)
• David H. Moore (alderperson): Thanked the administration for analyzing cost drivers and asked whether the review examined what drives personnel costs. (2:33:27); Asked what happens if savings targets in the budget are not met. (2:38:39)
• Gilbert Villegas (alderperson): Asked whether the nine work streams cover the main components of government. (2:41:00); Urged a technology RFI around the nine areas to drive efficiencies, citing a resolution the council passed. (2:42:18); Cited time and attendance and cloud storage for police cameras as savings opportunities not in the budget. (2:45:25)
• Anthony V. Napolitano (alderperson): Asked whether EY has performed audits for other cities and what the city received for $3 million. (2:46:20); Said he felt the city paid for an analysis while choosing a different direction and suggested a full audit might have been more useful. (2:51:26)
• Daniel La Spata (alderperson): Said a consulting review was more useful than a financial audit and asked whether enterprise funds were examined. (2:53:41); Asked why the hiring freeze is not focused on management positions rather than frontline staff. (2:56:12); Asked how the city could move closer to the 80/20 vendor concentration principle in procurement. (2:59:31)
• Nicholas Sposato (alderperson): Asked whether slow payment by the city discourages vendors and raises prices. (3:02:28); Asked whether cities with fewer police per capita have more crime. (3:58:41)
• Emma Mitts (alderperson): Asked to be included in procurement discussions as chair of contracting oversight and urged centralized purchasing across departments. (3:04:25)
• Andre Vasquez Jr. (alderperson): Requested a list of every recommendation showing which are in the budget and why others were not included. (3:18:07); Asked what is needed to finish the ERP system, citing the gap between projected and budgeted savings. (3:18:36); Raised concern that required quarterly line item transfer reports were not provided for the police department. (3:20:50)
• Matthew J. Martin (alderperson): Said the workforce allocation study required this fall will be late and urged faster action on reforms. (3:25:32); Requested the fire and police positions analyzed for civilianization and an unredacted copy of a procurement savings chart. (3:26:32); Asked whether benefits savings options would shift costs to employees or reduce benefits. (3:27:21)
• William E. Hall (alderperson): Asked why the fleet analysis covered only 5,000 of about 15,000 vehicles and assets. (3:32:33); Asked what technology tracks vehicle routes and usage and whether it protects the city in lawsuits. (3:35:21); Said the city's fleet technology is inadequate and called for a new framework for evaluating assets in 2026. (3:44:40)
• Stephanie D. Coleman (alderperson): Requested a list of car wash vendors, their budget, locations and minority status. (3:48:14)
• William Conway (alderperson): Asked whether moving parade and assembly permits from paper to electronic would produce savings. (3:49:02); Asked what drives the city's higher fleet cost per asset compared with the government average. (3:51:00); Asked about office space over-allocation and the real estate savings estimates in the report. (3:52:37)

Exchanges between members

• 1:11:28 Alderperson Nicole T. Lee asked the chair how time limits would work.
• 1:21:18 Alderperson Anthony Beale told the chair five-minute limits were too short given the meeting time the chair set.
• 1:21:23 The chair responded that an earlier meeting affected the start time.
• 1:54:25 The chair told Alderperson Samantha Nugent her questioning had gone beyond a point of information.
• 1:54:37 Alderperson Samantha Nugent agreed to take her question later.
• 1:57:51 The chair asked Alderperson Brendan Reilly to allow the budget director to answer his question.
• 2:22:52 The chair followed up on Alderperson Brian Hopkins question about police civilianization.
• 2:31:42 The chair told Alderperson Raymond A. Lopez it was not fair to ask the consultant about the department's priorities.
• 2:32:09 Alderperson Raymond A. Lopez responded to the chair that the consultant could answer what priorities were given.
• 2:49:23 The chair explained to Alderperson Anthony V. Napolitano that EY's work was not an audit.
• 2:49:49 Alderperson Anthony V. Napolitano told the chair he understood but was asking what the city paid for.
• 3:04:53 Alderperson Emma Mitts reminded the chair she had raised procurement oversight with him before.
• 3:47:48 The chair told Alderperson Matthew J. O'Shea that car washes are part of ongoing vehicle maintenance.

Documents

• Agenda
• Notice