Welcome to Newswire — your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what action we can take to make our city great, featuring public meeting coverage by City Bureau’s Documenters.

Quote/Term of the Week

Appropriation / noun

Designation of funds for a specific purpose. For the city budget, ordinances identify how much money will go to different departments.

Ex: In the 2026 Chicago City Budget, the proposed appropriation for the Department of Water Management is over $774 million.

Big bucks for water management

While the 2026 Chicago City Budget features a $1.15 billion deficit, the Department of Water Management won’t take any cuts — quite the opposite. 

The department is set to receive $774 million for the 2026 fiscal year, a 85.5% increase from 2025, the largest single-year increase in the department’s history. Meanwhile, Chicago faces a major budget shortfall, in part due to federal funding cuts and the expiration of COVID-era grants such as funds given out under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

Most of that added money will come from the Disaster Recovery fund, a new grant introduced in this budget. Disaster Recovery is part of the Community Development Block Grant, a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2025. Chicago received the grant to help mitigate storm damage and community recovery after severe storms in 2023 and 2024. 

Water Department leaders came under fire after reporting from WBEZ, Inside Climate News and Grist revealed only 7 percent of the nearly 900,000 Chicago renters, landlords and homeowners whose homes were built before 1986 were notified they were at risk of having lead-contaminated drinking water.

Chicago has the most lead service lines in the country — around 412,000 out of 491,000 total lines — and city officials don’t plan to finish replacing them all until 2076, nearly 100 years after lead pipes were banned  in 1986.

Lead Pipes are Everywhere in Chicago. Here’s How to Protect Yourself.

Considering the Water Department’s recent residency in the City Council hot seat, alders questioned  how officials  plan to use that money  to help other ongoing projects, including lead service line replacement as well as homeowners reporting misreadings of their water meters. In one case, a Chicago property owner is fighting a six-figure water bill from the city.

What you can do:

Follow along with Chicago Documenters this #BudgetSzn🤑. We’re covering every budget hearing leading up to City Council finalizing the spending plan at the end of the year. Follow our work at docs.org, Twitter.com and Bluesky.

Find out if your home has lead pipes. You can search your address with this tool. | Inside Climate News, Grist, WBEZ

Test for lead in your drinking water by doing either of the following:

  • Request a free test kit online or call 311. Follow the instructions and schedule a time for a city representative to come pick it up. 

  • Request a free water quality lead inspection by a trained technician from the Chicago Department of Water Management via 311. You should avoid using water six hours before the appointment, and you must be present for the scheduled inspection.

Cuts to Public Health

The Chicago Department of Public Health is facing cuts of up to $375 million, one of the most drastic reductions in the 2026 Chicago City Budget. The department, which relies heavily on grant funding, is caught in the crosshairs of cuts to federal funding and the expiration of COVID-era grants, including American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money.

Earlier this year, the department was notified that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was canceling $125 million in federal funds, which alone impacted 22 contracts and 100 staff positions, according to the Mayor’s Office. 

The department also has one of the highest numbers of vacant jobs with 74.5% of budgeted positions unfilled.

Some of the cuts will come in the form of restructuring. Officials have proposed adding 65 jobs to the Department of Environment, 25 of which would be positions that are being cut from Public Health.

What you can do:

Follow along with Chicago Documenters this #BudgetSzn🤑. We’re covering every budget hearing leading up to City Council finalizing the spending plan at the end of the year. Follow our work at docs.org, Twitter.com and Bluesky.

Catch up on the headlines:

  • City, State expecting to lose half a billion dollars for public health as Trump cuts swell | Block Club Chicago

  • How Medicaid cuts from Congress could affect every Cook County resident | WBEZ

  • Expiring federal funds threaten Chicago’s alternative crisis response effort | South Side Weekly

A version of this story was first published in the October 29, 2025 issue of the Newswire, an email newsletter that is your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what we can do to make our city great. You can sign up for the weekly newsletter here.

Have thoughts on what you'd like to see in this feature? Email Civic Editor Dawn Rhodes at dawn@citybureau.org.