City Council Passes 2025 Budget

Neighbors,

This week, I joined 26 of my colleagues in voting yes to pass a city budget for 2025, avoiding a government shutdown.

While far from perfect, the final budget reflects a collaborative effort to address Chicago’s financial challenges without placing undue burdens on homeowners and working families. At a time when so many 48th ward neighbors are struggling with affordability, I stood firm in opposing large property tax increases in this budget. Instead, we’ve taken a balanced approach: We’re generating revenue by ensuring that large corporations doing business in our city pay their fair share, protecting essential city services in the process.

This budget season, we faced a nearly $1 billion budget deficit and were tasked with working together to make tough compromises. While some have called for deep cuts to programs that serve our most vulnerable residents, I believe we must take a different path. Slashing funding for youth employment programs, homeless outreach, or public safety reforms would be a step backward. These are not “extras.” They are critical to the well-being of our city and represent investments in a safe, vibrant community where everyone can thrive.

At the same time, we need to look toward the future. We cannot continue to rely on one-time fixes, and instead need strategies that set us up for long-term success and ensure that we do not end up in the same position again next year. That’s why I co-sponsored the Management Ordinance, a reform to make city government more transparent and accountable to the people. This ordinance, which passed today, makes various changes to the City’s budget process, reporting, and functions of the Council Office of Financial Analysis (COFA). This ordinance will allow for more informed budget decisions in years to come.

This process has not been easy, but we’ve worked diligently toward the goal of a better budget. We will continue this work in future years until we achieve a budget that fully meets our needs and reflects our values.

Yours in community,

Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth

48th ward alderwoman