Skeptical aldermen pressed Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration Tuesday to release a publicly funded outside report on potential government savings heading into 2026, an early skirmish in what could be another tough fight to find money to balance Chicago’s budget.
During a Budget Committee hearing with Johnson finance officials, aldermen reminded administration representatives that they pledged to be transparent heading into this year’s budget cycle, a potential sign of continued mistrust after last year’s often-tense negotiations.
The full release of a report by accounting firm Ernst & Young — which cost at least $3 million in taxpayer funds — quickly emerged as a key sticking point.
The Ernst & Young team was hired in late April to dig into the city’s fines and fees, benefits, contracting and opportunities to deliver better service to constituents. E&Y has had broad access to the city’s internal systems and data for the past several months.
Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly, a frequent Johnson antagonist, was one of a handful of council members who asked Budget Director Annette Guzman whether the council would be given access to the firm’s full conclusions.
Guzman told him that any report would “go through many iterations,” including fact-checking and “filtering.”
The administration will then release “the final options that we believe are — after talking to our own departments who have to do this work — practical for the city of Chicago,” Guzman said.
Reilly, 42nd, said he was concerned the administration would ignore budget proposals that didn’t match Johnson’s preferred path to closing what the mayor’s team estimated is a $1.15 billion deficit for 2026.
Between the yawning budget gap and the way last year’s process left even close Johnson allies frustrated, aldermen have predicted this year’s budget would be one of the toughest to tackle. The close proximity to 2027 elections is an added political stressor.
Guzman said she never suggested there was an unredacted report that would be withheld. “What you can expect is the final document with the recommendations in it,” she said.
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Reilly found that proposal unsatisfactory.
“We’re spending a lot of money for Ernst & Young’s professional expert opinion,” he said. “And the risk here of having it filtered is that perhaps some very good ideas that don’t necessarily match with this administration’s wishes may be excluded from what is presented to us, the members of this body who are being asked to partner with the administration in balancing a very difficult budget this year. I just want to make sure that there’s nothing left on the cutting room floor that we don’t get to see ourselves.”
Budget Chairman Jason Ervin said “it is not our City Council’s report,” but said he would work with the mayor’s office and the Law Department to reach a solution. “If we’re due whatever we’re due, we will get it.”
The analysis will cost taxpayers at least $3.18 million for the first phase, according to a contract amendment obtained by the Tribune through an open records request.
That work includes a review of the city’s procurement, benefits, land and leases, fleet and maintenance, special event costs, and fines and fees. A second phase, which would include development of a “performance-based budgeting framework that aligns resources with strategic priorities,” would cost $3.71 million. It isn’t clear whether the firm will undertake that second phase.
The money is coming out of the city’s “finance general” category, a catch-all fund that includes the cost of technology, future labor contracts and health care benefits.
Ald. Matt Martin, 47th, asked for assurances that the City Council would get the report before the mayor’s budget speech, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 16. Guzman said her intention was to provide it before then.
The Ernst & Young team is separately helping the mayor’s budget working group come up with their budget recommendations. Their report with shorter-term fiscal solutions is expected in the coming weeks, officials have said.
Tuesday’s hearing was the first of six days of hearings on the city’s mid-year budget report.
Aldermen also took the opportunity to request a raft of other information before Johnson’s speech, including the total savings from the citywide hiring freeze, the anticipated cost of police settlements this year, a full breakdown of all programs and services being paid out of the finance general fund, and a list of the city’s 50 biggest contractors and the services they provided.