Department of Finance – BGA Policy 2026 Budget Snapshot

Table of Contents

Departmental Highlights

Snapshot: Appropriation & Staffing Changes from 2025 Budget

*Historical comparisons typically begin in 2011, however the Department of Finance's size and function changed to its modern form in 2012. The outlier year 2011 has been excluded from this snapshot.

• Headcount and appropriations are both up for DoF, with a substantial 14.1% increase in budgeted appropriations from the previous year (which itself saw a 5.8% increase from 2024).
• DoF's net headcount increase is primarily driven by an additional 25 Parking Enforcement Aide positions. Seven Traffic Enforcement Technician positions were eliminated, along with three Staff Assistant positions and a number of accounting and administrative positions.
• DoF appropriations from the Water Fund and Grants Management Fund increased substantially in this year's budget, up $6 million (46.4%) and $3.9 million (155.2%) respectively.
• Budgeted IT maintenance appropriations increased significantly for DoF from the previous year, up $8 million (34.2%) from the 2025 budget.
• Personnel expenses are also up, with a $1 million (2.1%) increase in salaries and wages and a $1.4 million (169.5%) increase in fringe benefits.
• The department also has a new $4 million "reserve balance" appropriation from the State Grant Fund.

Historical Context

In Mayor Emanuel's first budget (2012), the then-existing Department of Finance was merged with the larger Department of Revenue to create the version of the office operating today.

Since the merger, the department appropriation budget has grown at an average rate of 5% annually, or 1.4% adjusted for inflation, compared to a citywide average rate of 8.3%, or an inflation-adjusted 4.4%.

DoF budget growth has accelerated in recent years, including in this year's proposed budget with a 14.1% appropriation increase recommended.

Over the past three complete budget years for which local fund actuals/encumbrances data is available, DoF spent on average 85.2% of its budget, close to the citywide average 86.4% local fund spend.

Staffing levels have remained relatively stable since the 2012 budget, with an average annual rate of growth of -0.2%. This year's proposal reverses last year's declines, with a net increase of nine positions/FTEs from last year's budgeted staff, a 1.5% increase.

From February through September of 2025, the months for which the city released vacancy data, DoF averaged a 12% vacancy rate, only slightly higher than the citywide average of 11.2%.

5.6% of the department's budgeted positions were persistent vacancies, meaning that the same title/division/section/subsection combination was vacant for all eight months of available data.

Staffing

DoF's net headcount increase is primarily driven by an additional 25 Parking Enforcement Aide positions. Seven Traffic Enforcement Technician positions were eliminated, along with three Staff Assistant positions and a number of accounting and administrative positions.

Appropriations

The Department of Finance is 88.2% locally-funded in this year's budget proposal, down slightly from the previous year's 93.7%.

Appropriations for DoF are primarily drawn from the corporate fund. DoF appropriations from the Water Fund and Grants Management Fund increased substantially in this year's budget, up $6 million (46.4%) and $3.9 million (155.2%) respectively.

Largest Appropriations

After salaries and wages on payroll (the largest category at nearly all departments), DoF's largest expenses in the 2026 budget proposal is IT maintenance.

The department also has a significant contracting budget, with the professional and technical services (outside contracting) and delegate agencies (pass-through spending) appropriations its next-largest categories.

Because the 2022-2024 actuals datasets from the Department of Finance do not correspond exactly to the same appropriation accounts as the budgets presented by the Office of Budget and Management, an exact comparison of real spend to budget is not possible at the appropriation account level.

In 2024, the most recent year for which complete actuals are available, DoF spent roughly 85.4% of its personnel services budget (a category that includes salaries and wages, overtime, and other compensation-related appropriation accounts), and 95.6% of its contracting budget.

The department also spent an unbudgeted $197,368 on payments and refunds for claims in 2024.

The chart below shows budgeted spend, unspent funds, and overspend in the department's largest appropriations categories, as well as any with overspend or other significant discrepancies between budget and spend. (Only the most significant appropriation categories for this department have been included; the chart is not a comprehensive display of all actual 2024 departmental spend.)

Change from Previous Year

Budgeted IT maintenance appropriations increased significantly for DoF from the previous year, up $8 million (34.2%) from the 2025 budget.

Personnel expenses are also up, with a $1 million (2.1%) increase in salaries and wages and a $1.4 million (169.5%) increase in fringe benefits.

The department also has a new $4 million "reserve balance" appropriation from the State Grant Fund. According to OBM responses at the previous year's budget hearings, the reserve balance appropriation account is used for grant funds that will be rolled over into the next year, and does not represent current-year expenditures.

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