Chicago’s taxpayers are footing a $129 million bill for police overtime, while street festival organizers dodge their fair share.
At a Glance
- Chicago spent $129 million on police overtime in the first half of 2024, exceeding the budget by nearly 30%
- Street festival organizers are not reimbursing the city for police overtime costs as required by law
- Aldermen are pushing for reform to ensure proper reimbursement and accountability
- The city faces a $222.9 million deficit for 2024 and a projected $982.4 million shortfall in 2025
- A pending lawsuit over police overtime pay could add $200 million to the city’s budget crisis
Chicago’s Ballooning Police Overtime Costs
Chicago’s police overtime spending has spiraled out of control, with the city shelling out $129 million in just the first six months of 2024. This figure already exceeds the annual overtime budget by a staggering 30%. If this trend continues, Chicago is on track to spend at least $258 million on police overtime by year’s end. These astronomical figures are putting immense pressure on an already strained city budget.
The situation has become so dire that overtime limits were imposed on all city departments except for police and fire due to budget constraints. Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling has taken steps to curb these costs, including ending practices like “scarecrowing” and canceling officers’ regular days off. Despite these efforts, the overtime spending remains alarmingly high.
The Street Festival Dilemma
Adding insult to injury, it has come to light that Chicago has been covering police overtime costs for street festivals, which should be paid by event organizers according to city law. Between 2021 and 2023, nearly 2,800 officers worked 27,000 hours of overtime for about 1,300 festivals. This unpaid overtime likely costs taxpayers millions of dollars annually.
“It’s my understanding there are a number of events in the city where, for whatever reason, we don’t ask the event organizer to reimburse us for things like police resources, police and fire, paramedic, traffic control. Some events spend lots of money on those sorts of things, like Lollapalooza, for example. Yet other events don’t get charged these things,” Ald. Brendan Reilly said.
The lack of consistency in charging event organizers for police resources is glaring. While major events like Lollapalooza and the Chicago Marathon reimburse the city, countless smaller festivals are getting a free ride on the taxpayers’ dime. This discrepancy has not gone unnoticed by city aldermen, who are now pushing for a system overhaul to ensure proper reimbursement for police resources.
The Brewing Budget Crisis
Chicago’s financial outlook is grim. The city faces a $222.9 million deficit for 2024 and a projected $982.4 million shortfall in 2025. To make matters worse, a pending lawsuit over Chicago Police Department overtime pay could add another $200 million to the city’s budget crisis. The lawsuit alleges that the city under-calculated overtime pay for officers involved in a violence reduction initiative since at least 2012.
“We need our cops to be able to serve and protect us on the street, and we don’t want them to feel as if though they’re not going to be compensated for it,” Ald. Emma Mitts, 37th Ward, said.
While it’s crucial to ensure fair compensation for our officers, the city’s failure to manage overtime costs and collect reimbursements from event organizers is exacerbating an already dire financial situation. The Department of Finance’s inability to produce invoices for police overtime at street festivals is a glaring example of mismanagement that must be addressed immediately.
