Department of Finance – BGA Policy 2027 Budget Snapshot

The Department of Finance in its modern form was established in the 2012 budget year. Historical comparisons and averages below therefore use 2012 as the starting point, rather than 2011 as for most other departments. 

• The Department of Finance saw the largest proportional increase in its departmental budget in the 2027 proposal (excepting the Board of Election Commissioners, which increases and decreases cyclically during election years and off-years), with a 37.1% increase in appropriations from the previous year.
  
• Driving DoF’s budget increase are substantial increases in the professional and technical services appropriation, up $32.7 million (136.3%) from the previous year’s budget, as well as a $1.2 million (3.7%) increase in IT maintenance contracting.
  
• DoF also saw million-dollar-plus increases in salaries and wages on payroll (up 8.3%), repair and maintenance of equipment (72.0%), and postage (43.8%), in addition to a new $12 million appropriation for payroll tax offsets on employees in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas under Johnson’s proposed new corporate head tax.
  
• Setting aside title changes, promotions, and similar adjustments of positions within general job categories, the proposed 2027 budget calls for nine new Traffic Enforcement Technician positions at DoF, while eliminating one position each from the Accounting Technician, Accountant, Director of Accounting, and Project Manager titles.

From 2012-2026, DoF’s budget grew at an average rate of 4.9% annually, or 2.6% adjusted for inflation through 2025, compared to a citywide average rate of 5.5% (inflation-adjusted 3.2%). The current proposal would increase the department’s appropriations by 37.1% from the previous year, the largest proportional increase of any department other than the election-year Board of Election Commissioners increase. 

City budgets do not break out “fringe” pension and benefit costs for non-grant positions by department, instead grouping them together as citywide expenses under the Finance General section of the budget. To better reflect the real cost of service for departmental operations, BGA Policy has included an estimate of pension and benefit costs for the years 2018-2026, using Department of Finance fringe memos from each relevant year. An estimated fringe cost for the 2027 proposal uses the average annual rate of increase for each of the inputs into the fringe formulae. 

Based on the city’s fringe formulae, the DoF fringe cost for nongrant employees averaged 27.8%% from 2018-2026, compared to a citywide average of 26.8%. 

Over the past four complete budget years for which local fund actuals/encumbrances data is available, DoF spent on average 86.5% of its locally funded budget, almost exactly in line with the citywide average 86.6% local fund spend.

Staffing levels at DoF have remained relatively stable since the 2012 budget, with minor year-over-year increases and decreases averaging out to an annual rate of change of less than 0.5%. This year’s proposal adds a net five positions/FTEs, a 0.8% increase over the previous year. 

From January through September of 2026, the months for which full-time position vacancy data is currently available, DoF averaged a 10.4% vacancy rate, compared to the citywide average of 11.2%. 

25 of the department’s budgeted full-time positions were persistent vacancies (defined as the number of positions within the same combination of title, subsection, section, division, department, and fund codes that remained vacant in all nine months of available data): 

Setting aside title changes, promotions, and similar adjustments of positions within general job categories, the proposed 2027 budget calls for nine new Traffic Enforcement Technician positions at DoF, while eliminating one position each from the Accounting Technician, Accountant, Director of Accounting, and Project Manager titles.

DoF’s grant funding declined from the 2026 budget, with the department 95.8% locally-funded in this year’s budget proposal, up from the previous year’s 88.5%. 

60.8% of DoF’s appropriations come from the general-purpose corporate fund, with another 14.6% from the water fund. DoF is also the only department funded out of the Chicago Parking Meters Fund, with $16.9 million in budgeted appropriations, up from $6.5 million in the previous year’s budget. 

Largest Appropriations

Outside contracting via the professional and technical services appropriation is DoF’s largest single-line appropriation in the 2027 proposal, with a separate large appropriation specifically for IT maintenance contracting. The 2027 budget also includes a new $12 million “SEDA Employment Expansion and Development” appropriation for tax credits to offset payroll taxes on employees in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas under Johnson’s proposed new corporate head tax. 

In 2025, the most recent complete budget year for which local fund actuals and encumbrances data is available, DoF spent 90.6% of its locally-funded budget. The department spent only 58.7% of its commodities budget and only 11.2% of its travel budget, and also encumbered just under $200,000 in payment and refund claims that were not budgeted from 2026 local funds. 

Change from Previous Year

Outside contracting through the professional and technical services appropriation saw the largest single-line increase in DoF appropriations, up $32.7 million (136.3%) from the previous year’s budget. IT maintenance contracting specifically also saw a $1.2 million (3.7%) increase from 2026. 

DoF also saw million-dollar-plus increases in salaries and wages on payroll (up 8.3%), repair and maintenance of equipment (72.0%), and postage (43.8%), in addition to a new $12 million appropriation for payroll tax offsets on employees in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas under Johnson’s proposed new corporate head tax. 

Pass-through spending to delegate agencies and reserve balance from grant funds were eliminated from DoF’s 2027 budget, reductions of -$4.1 million and -$4 million respectively. Other appropriation reductions were relatively minimal, -$100,000 or less.