By Townhall Chicago News Staff
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget includes roughly $130 million in new funding for the Chicago Public Library and programs serving people experiencing homelessness, according to the budget proposal released Wednesday.
The allocation represents one of the largest single-year investments in the city’s social safety net, combining nearly $100 million for housing and homelessness services with $30.9 million to shore up library operations.
The homelessness funding breaks down into $15 million for the Department of Family and Support Services’ Homeless Services division, $13 million for the Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust Fund and $2 million for the Flexible Housing Pool, according to the mayor’s press release. An additional $69 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds would be directed toward housing and homelessness services.
The administration said the investments are projected to prevent 3,000 Chicagoans from losing their homes next year. The funding responds to anticipated federal cuts to the Permanent Supportive Housing program, which provides long-term assistance to chronically homeless individuals.
Mary Tarullo, director of city policy for the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness, welcomed the proposal in a statement.
“This is an important first step to protect our current levels of affordable housing, including protecting Chicagoans from the inhumane actions of the Trump Administration and stabilizing locally funded programs that provide essential forms of affordable housing to our most vulnerable Chicagoans,” Tarullo said.
The budget surpasses what the Keep Chicago Housed campaign had requested. That coalition of progressive housing providers and aldermen had publicly called for $30 million to protect existing services.
On the library side, the $30.9 million from the city’s Corporate Fund would close the Chicago Public Library’s structural deficit and prevent layoffs, according to the budget proposal. An additional $9.4 million from the TIF surplus would bring the library’s proposed budget to $166.9 million for 2027, a 10 percent increase over the current year.
The funding follows reports of staffing shortages and long wait times for book deliveries between library branches. Johnson said the resources would allow the system to hire additional staff and improve services such as inter-library book transportation.
The Keep Chicago Housed campaign had intensified its advocacy in recent weeks. On Oct. 8, a group of aldermen and housing advocates held a press conference outside City Hall calling on the administration to protect low-income housing and homelessness services from federal funding cuts.
Johnson expressed confidence that aldermen would support the spending. He pointed to the City Council’s approval last year of a $40 million investment to improve seven shelters for people experiencing homelessness on the South and West sides.
“Alders recognize that this is a challenge citywide,” Johnson said during a Monday interview previewing the budget.
However, both the library and homelessness funding are part of the broader $17.6 billion budget that faces a contentious path through City Council. The spending plan relies in part on a revived corporate head tax and higher business taxes that aldermen have resisted.
The City Council must pass a final budget by Dec. 31.
