Alleged police misconduct settlements add to Chicago’s budget woes

Chicago’s latest budget challenge involves lawsuit settlements over police-related incidents.

The city has already reached its 2025 budget amount of $82 million to settle alleged police misconduct lawsuits.

After a St. Louis man had both legs amputated due to a collision that happened during a police chase in 2022, the city council approved a $32 million settlement with the man and his family last week.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said his administration is aware of the hundreds of lawsuits the city is still facing.

“We have inherited quite the mess. Many of these cases that we’re referring to happened decades ago,” Johnson said.

Chicago Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry said it is difficult to make budget projections for settlements.

“What impacts that is settlement amounts. Some of those are largely unknown. Some predictions one can make, but [they are] largely unknown because it depends on the parties with whom we’re negotiating for settlement,” Richardson-Lowry said.

Richardson-Lowry suggested that the administration could make budgetary changes.

“There are quarterly meetings that happen between my department, the budget office, sometimes the police department, where we do a re-valuation of those dollars, so what you will likely see is an adjustment that happens throughout the year,” Richardson-Lowry said.

Chicago resident Tiwon Sims reminded the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations about the city’s projected budget deficit of nearly $1 billion.

“I want to watch y’all push the pieces with a…$982 million shortfall already looming over the heads of the budgetary committee, this think tank,” Sims said.

Sims reminded aldermen about the city spending hundreds of millions of dollars on noncitizen migrants in recent years.

Sims noted that Chicago does not have a Department of Government Efficiency.