In all, CPD’s budget is set to swell to $2.1 billion, increasing by $37.9 million to cover the cost of salary increases required by agreements with unions representing members.

“The line to draw here is that we either are going to protect working people in Chicago from Trump’s cuts, or we are going to open up the floodgates and allow these individuals to be hurt and harmed further,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

Even though Chicago’s 2025 budget included $500,000 for the program, the effort will not move forward after the City Council’s Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee, meeting in a joint session with the Transportation Committee, rejected officials’ plan to plow sidewalks in two small parts of the city.

A budget forecast for 2026 projects a $1.15 billion deficit for the city, driven by the end of one-time federal pandemic aid and continued uncertainty over pension payments for Chicago Public Schools employees.

Chicago taxpayers paid $295 million between 2019 and 2024 to resolve lawsuits naming officers whose alleged misconduct led more than once to payouts, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News. In all, the city spent $491.7 million to resolve lawsuits alleging 1,643 Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct.

The Chicago Police Department spent approximately 7% less on overtime during the first six months of 2025 than it did during the same period in 2024, records show.

“We don’t have a spending problem, we have a revenue problem,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said Wednesday. “That’s why my budget is going to challenge the ultra-rich to pay their fair share in taxes.”

The report offers “89 preliminary options to improve operations, generate new revenue, and pursue strategic opportunities, all while preserving city services” that could add between $1 billion and $2.1 billion to the city’s bottom line.

“Chicagoans deserve the truth about the fiscal conditions of our city,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “Our economy does remain resilient, but fiscal discipline is certainly required in this moment.”

The bill is designed to make sure that Chicago police officers and firefighters earn pension benefits at the same level as downstate first responders.

A city analysis warned the bill “would increase the city’s pension liabilities by more than $11 billion” in the two funds that pay pensions to retired police officers and firefighters.

“It’s on the table,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday at a City Hall news conference. “Everything has to be on the table. Everything has to be on the table.”

“I will not be proposing a property tax increase in my budget,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said Thursday. “I’m going to continue to work hard to find progressive revenue so that we can continue to make critical investments in transforming our city.”

The new database launched after WTTW News reported the city spent $510.9 million on employee overtime in 2024 — 1.5% less than in 2023, with more than half of the total amount used to compensate Chicago Police Department officers for working extra hours.

The rare rejection by the Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee means the proposal will not advance to the full City Council for a final vote. Its sponsor said the measure would give 17 members of the City Council the power to stop Johnson from burdening future generations with massive debt obligations.

“No, it’s not acceptable,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “No one is going to agree that the overspending in this moment is something that we should accept or be OK with.”