Johnson freezes hiring in all departments, including police and fire, to confront budget crisis

Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday froze hiring and travel in all city departments — including police and fire — and eliminated overtime “not directly required for public safety operations” to begin to confront Chicago’s burgeoning budget crisis.

Johnson is not the first mayor to freeze hiring and restrict overtime to solve a budget crisis.

But most past hiring freezes have been confined to “non-essential” positions. Public safety jobs in the Chicago Police Department and the Chicago Fire Department have routinely been exempt.

Johnson doesn’t have that luxury at a time when he's refusing to rule out the property tax increase he campaigned against.

He’s got just four months to fill a $223 million gap in 2024 caused, in large part, by the Chicago Board of Education’s refusal to absorb a $175 million pension payment for non-teaching school employees. After that, Johnson faces a $982.4 million deficit in 2025.

The mayor has warned “sacrifices will be made." Those sacrifices will include freezing hiring at a $2 billion-a-year Chicago Police Department that already is roughly 2,000 sworn officers short of the strength it had just a few years ago. It also means no new hires at the $663.8 million-a-year Chicago Fire Department, which is so short of paramedics and ambulances, the 80 ambulances it does have are “running night and day,” according to Pat Cleary, president of Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2.

“It’s ridiculous. How do you do that? How do you run a police or fire department with a hiring freeze? ... It’s gonna get bad. Crime is gonna get worse and you’re gonna have more overworked employees who are gonna be disgruntled,” Cleary said.

“We’re already short-handed. Why would you short-hand us even more? You’re letting budget people make tactical decisions for police and fire departments. Employees on those ambulances are gonna be even more overworked. Will they make mistakes? I don’t know. Will they get in more accidents? I don’t know. We’ll find out.”

Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara could not be reached for comment.

Budget Director Annette Guzman described the belt-tightening measures as “necessary” steps that “reflect our commitment to responsible fiscal management during a time of financial uncertainty.”

“The city’s leadership team, including the Office of Budget and Management (OBM) and the Department of Finance, are working diligently to navigate these financial challenges and ensure the continued delivery of essential services to our residents. We appreciate the cooperation of all City departments as we implement these cost-saving measures,” Guzman was quoted as saying in a statement.

The economies were announced in a memo Monday to “all commissioners and department heads.”

“In light of the projected FY 2024 deficit and in preparation for discussions regarding reduction scenarios that will be considered for the 2025 budget, OBM is enacting several cost reduction measures,” Guzman wrote.

“Effective immediately and until further notice, OBM is implementing a hiring freeze ... applicable to all departments and all positions. … No new interviews or consensus meetings should be scheduled after the date or this memorandum. If an offer has been extended as of the date of this memorandum, departments may proceed with the hire. ”

Some other hiring still allowed include those positions required by municipal code or by a court-enforced consent decree.

Civic Federation President Joe Ferguson said including police and fire in the hiring freeze is “very unusual” but a “clear recognition of the magnitude of the problem and the responsibility on the fiscal front to get the house in order.”

The question now is whether the freeze will continue through next year and whether police spending will be reduced in 2025 by permanently eliminating police vacancies from the budget.

“There’s nothing … that says this is a hard and immutable line that’s been drawn. It’s an initial measure. … It reflects the gravity of the fiscal moment,” Ferguson said.

“It shouldn’t be across-the-board permanent" without thoroughly examining "potential downsides," he added. "If we’re gonna lock into a freeze without having done the analysis of actual needs, then we’re gonna create another set of harms simply out of having not done the work.”

Pressed on whether CPD can afford to freeze hiring while operating nearly 2,000 officers short, Ferguson said: “That’s the conversation that needs to be had. And frankly a critical actor in all of that too often is missing from that conversation is the Chicago City Council. They have to ask those questions.”