The Department of Planning and Development’s size and mandate have changed multiple times since 2011, with the Department of Housing at times combined into DPD and at other times a standalone department. Because of the changing size and function of the department, 2011-2025 annual average rates are not provided in this snapshot.
Department of Planning and Development Snapshot: Appropriation & Staffing Changes from 2026 Budget
DPD has been a dramatic outlier in terms of actual spend in recent years, with large portions of the department’s rehabilitation loans and grants appropriations from the Neighborhoods Opportunity, Local Impact, and Citywide Adopt-a-Landmark funds unspent. Approval and payments for projects funded out of those loans and grants can be multi-year, meaning full project costs rarely break down neatly into a single year’s budget.
This year’s DPD proposal holds $35.5 million in reserve balance, up from under half a million in the previous year’s budget. The rehabilitation grants and loans appropriation is down -$21.2 million (-18.7%) from 2026.
Outside contracting through the professional and technical services appropriation is also down substantially, -$3.7 million (-40.1%) from the previous year.
Historical Context
Rahm Emanuel replaced the then-Department of Housing with the Department of Planning and Development in the 2014 budget, at a lower rate of funding than its predecessor. (Housing had $191.7m in appropriations in the 2013 budget; DPD began its existence in the 2014 budget with $153.8m.)
The Department of Housing returned to city budgets in the 2019 budget and resumed operating as an independent office under Lori Lightfoot’s administration. In the 2019 budget, DPD’s budget dropped from $189.2m the previous year to $35.1m, while the newly-returned DoH received $148.4m.
DPD then saw significant budget increases in the pandemic-era budgets, more than doubling its post-split appropriation. That increased funding dropped off dramatically with 2025’s -34.5% cut in DPD’s budget from the previous year.
The current 2027 proposal would raise DPD’s budget by 5.4% from the previous year.
Department of Planning and Development Appropriations and Inflation-adjusted Appropriations (2025 dollars)
Values in nominal dollars.
Values in 2025 dollars. No supplied inflation factors for 2026, 2027; those years remain gaps.
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 DPD fringe cost for nongrant employees averaged 7.2% from 2018-2026, compared to a citywide average of 26.8%.
Department of Planning and Development Appropriations with Estimated Fringe Cost of Pensions and Benefits for Budgeted Non-grant Positions, 2018–2027 (proposed)
DPD is a dramatic outlier in terms of actual fund spend: where most city departments typically spend 80-90% of their local fund budgets, DPD has spent an average of 23.8% of its local fund budget over the past four years for which detailed local fund actuals/encumbrances data is available.
That underspend is driven by rehabilitation loan and grant appropriation lines in the Neighborhoods Opportunity, Local Impact, and Citywide Adopt-a-Landmark Funds. Approval and payments for projects funded out of those loans and grants can be multi-year, meaning full project costs rarely break down neatly into a single year’s budget.
Department of Planning and Development Local Fund Actuals, 2022–2025
Staffing levels at DPD underwent a sharp reduction when the Department of Housing was split off into its own standalone department. Since that split, DPD’s budgeted headcount grew at an average annual rate of 2.3% from 2019-2026, compared to a citywide average annual change of -0.3% for the same years. The current proposal would decrease budgeted headcount by -0.5% from the previous year.
Department of Planning and Development Budgeted Workforce, 2011–2027 (proposed)
From January through September of 2026, the months for which full-time position vacancy data is currently available, DPD averaged a 14.0% vacancy rate, compared to the citywide average of 11.2%.
Department of Planning and Development Full-time Vacancies, Jan-Sept 2026
15 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):
Department of Planning and Development Persistent Full-time Vacancies, Jan-Sept 2026
Although net headcount only decreased by a single budgeted position, the 2027 proposal makes several position changes within DPD, adding two Assistant Commissioner positions and one each in the Project Manager and Program Specialist titles. Three positions were eliminated across various coordinator titles, along with a Recovery Team Program Director position and an Urban Designer position.
Department of Planning and Development Net and Percent Position/FTE Changes, 2026 to 2027 (Proposed) Budgets
Of the department’s locally-funded appropriations, 77.1% are for rehabilitation loans and grants, drawn from the Neighborhoods Opportunity, Local Impact, and Citywide Adopt-a-Landmark Funds.
Largest Appropriations
The bulk of DPD’s budgeted appropriations are for rehabilitation loans and grants or represent grant funds held in reserve balance. Outside of those two categories, the department’s budget for all other operations is only $30.3 million.
Department of Planning and Development Top 10 Largest Appropriations, 2027 proposed
This year’s DPD proposal holds $35.5 million in reserve balance, up from under half a million in the previous year’s budget. The rehabilitation grants and loans appropriation is down -$21.2 million (-18.7%) from 2026. Outside contracting through the professional and technical services appropriation is also down substantially, -$3.7 million (-40.1%) from the previous year.
Department of Planning and Development Net and Percent Appropriation Changes, 2026 to 2027 (proposed) Budgets
Geoffrey Cubbage analyzes policy and budgets at the Better Government Association, covering state lawmakers and Chicago City Council. He joined BGA in 2022 after directing policy and economic development for Chicago’s 40th Ward.
