Inefficiencies, investigations, and recoveries, as City faces budget crisis

As we published our third quarter report last month, I was mindful that the City is deep into setting its 2025 budget. This year, the budget process must answer for and address a deficit of nearly one billion dollars.

The most important aspects of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) work, pursuing accountability and transparency in City government, cannot be measured in dollars. Transparency doesn’t show up on a balance sheet and accountability doesn’t earn interest, but Chicagoans are entitled to them all the same. Our program and policy work during the third quarter identified inefficiencies and potential cost savings across City programs, and our investigations uncovered misspent funds and resulted in meaningful fines and recoveries.

In the third quarter, we published a data dashboard on police patrol staffing , which accompanied a report on data gaps that impact cost-effective resource use in the police department, the largest part of the City budget. Our investigations found up to $489,000 in fees improperly paid to a Department of Law contractor. The Board of Ethics voted to pursue disciplinary fines in two cases resulting from OIG investigations, totaling $12,000. A City contractor was court-ordered to pay $2,358 in a prosecution for obstructing an OIG investigation and making false statements. The City will realize financial recoveries in two debarment actions resulting from OIG investigations totaling $150,000.

The financial savings and recoveries resulting from our work in three months stack up small against the City’s budget woes, and they are not an adequate measure of the need for and impact of meaningful government oversight. These successes highlight the impact of effective oversight in an environment like this one. As the City faces its budget challenges, OIG remains focused on driving?the?efficient delivery of City services and transparency in the?allocation of resources.

We will continue our work in those avenues and others in pursuit of a government that more closely resembles the one Chicagoans deserve.

Respectfully,

Deborah Witzburg

Inspector General, City of Chicago