Chicago is freezing hiring and curbing different bills to assist shut greater than $1 billion in finances shortfalls via subsequent 12 months for the nation’s third-largest metropolis.
Efficient Monday, Chicago is limiting non-essential journey and time beyond regulation bills exterior of public security spending, finances director Annette Guzman stated in an emailed assertion. Chicago is staring down an estimated $222.9 million deficit this 12 months and one other $982.4 million projected hole subsequent 12 months.
“These measures, while necessary, reflect our commitment to responsible fiscal management during a time of financial uncertainty,” Guzman stated within the assertion. Metropolis officers together with the finances and finance groups “are working diligently to navigate these financial challenges and ensure the continued delivery of essential services to our residents.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson, who’s crafting his second spending plan, is attempting to make good on his progressive social and financial marketing campaign guarantees whereas grappling with town’s difficult funds. He’ll define his finances — together with how he plans to shut the 2025 hole — within the subsequent month or two. The Chicago Metropolis Council then will vote on the proposal by the tip of 2024.
The back-to-back finances gaps come amid a drop within the so-called private property alternative taxes from the state and since town’s college district isn’t sending $175 million to pay a portion of pension contributions for its non-teaching employees that take part within the metropolis’s municipal worker retirement fund, in response to Guzman’s assertion. Rising personnel, pension and contractual prices “alongside ongoing revenue challenges” are driving the shortfall subsequent 12 months, in response to the assertion.
The measures town introduced Monday are a place to begin, stated Joe Ferguson, president of the Civic Federation, a authorities watchdog. Whereas the steps ship the “right message” in response to the deficits, questions on how metropolis departments will work with labor teams to ship crucial providers with probably much less assets are nonetheless unanswered, he stated.
“I am heartened by the fact that there is at least a recognition of the magnitude of this problem,” Ferguson stated.
(Updates with remark from watchdog Civic Federation in final two paragraphs.)
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