Public Reports

On May 14, 2013, the IGO published an audit of the City’s Red-Light Camera (RLC) program. The audit found that Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) was unable to substantiate its claims that the City chose to install and maintain red-light cameras at intersections with the highest angle crash rates in order to increase safety. Additionally, … [Read More...]

On May 2, 2013, the IGO published an audit of the City’s Commission on Animal Care and Control (CACC) shelter operations. The audit found that although animals were housed for the minimum time frames required by ordinance, which provides owners a chance to reunite with their stray or confiscated pets, CACC still faces several challenges. … [Read More...]

In April 2012, the IGO published an audit of processes related to the Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) grant monitoring function. The purpose of the audit was to determine whether DFSS: 1) had effective grant monitoring policies and procedures; and, 2) whether reimbursements to grantees were properly made and recorded. Based upon the … [Read More...]

The IGO’s 1st Quarter 2013 report provides a summary of IGO activity from January 1 through March 31, 2013. City law mandates that the Quarterly include certain statistics about the number, type, and duration of IGO investigations. However, to promote further transparency into IGO operations, the Inspector General ensures that the quarterly report includes summaries … [Read More...]

On March 28, 2013, the IGO published a follow-up letter to recommendations it issued the Department of Buildings (DOB) to improve DOB’s enforcement of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) requirements. The original recommendations,and City response, can be found here.

On March 28, 2013, the IGO published a six-month follow-up report of the City’s Emergency Contracting practices. The original report can be found here.

On January 30, 2013, the IGO sent an Advisory to Commissioner Choucair of the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) regarding fiscal intermediaries. CDPH transmitted their response on March 11, 2013.

On January 17, 2013, the IGO sent the Mayor’s Chief of Staff an advisory regarding the City’s Employee Indebtedness Program. The Mayor’s Chief of Staff transmitted her response to the IGO on February 25, 2013.

The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (IGO) has released an audit that found the City’s Department of Water Management’s (DWM) Material Truck Haul Program (MTHP) to be generally well administered, yet still susceptible to risk of fraud. MTHP, a successor to the scandal-plagued Hired Truck Program, ensures material delivery to sewer and water … [Read More...]

The IGO published a report describing the sources and uses of funding for the 2012 Chicago North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit. The IGO does not make any recommendations in the report, but instead provides the public with a simplified summary of the origin and final uses of $27.4 million the City spent on the … [Read More...]

The IGO recommended that the Chicago Police Department (CPD) civilianize 292 positions to save the City an estimated $6.4 to $16.6 million annually. The report analyzed opportunities to civilianize certain positions in 30 separate CPD units, and found that at least 292 full-time positions of the 370 reviewed could be filled by civilians. The 30 … [Read More...]

On January 18, 2013, the IGO transmitted its fourth quarter report for 2012 to the City Council and City officials. Available on the IGO website, the report provides a summary of IGO activity from October 1 through December 31, 2012. City law mandates that the Quarterly include certain statistics about the number, type, and duration … [Read More...]

The IGO released an audit that found waste and inefficiency in the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD) administration of its Tuition Reimbursement Program (TRP). The IGO sought to determine if CPD was effectively administering the $6.5 million program. Among its findings, the IGO found $180,375 owed to the City by 15 employees who resigned City service … [Read More...]

On November 26, 2012, the IGO released a follow-up report to its October 2011 review of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Public Benefits Clauses and Charitable Donations. The follow-up report has two major findings. First, it describes 10 additional previously undisclosed public benefits clauses. Second, it details the City’s actions in response to the IGO’s 2011 … [Read More...]

Following a series of complaints regarding the welfare of circus animals visiting Chicago and whether the City had adequate licensing and enforcement provisions in place for animal exhibitors, the IGO reviewed the City’s regulation of animal exhibitors. The IGO’s review found that traveling animal exhibitors present a special enforcement challenge for the City given the … [Read More...]

On October 26, 2012, the IGO sent the Mayor’s Chief of Staff an advisory regarding City employee solicitations.

The IGO transmitted its third quarter report for 2012 to the City Council and City officials. The report provides a summary of IGO activity from July 1 through September 30, 2012. City law mandates that the Quarterly include certain statistics about the number, type, and duration of IGO investigations, as well as summaries of concluded … [Read More...]

The IGO has published a report describing the City’s rights and powers retained under the 2008 Metered Parking Concession Agreement with Chicago Parking Meters, LLC. The report provides the public and City officials with a simplified baseline summary of what the City can and cannot do under the contract. “The parking meter contract understandably remain … [Read More...]

The IGO performed an audit of the Chicago Department of Water Management’s (DWM) inventory process for parts used by DWM employees to repair the City’s water and sewer infrastructure. The audit concluded that DWM’s internal controls were inadequate to ensure that assets were properly accounted for and safeguarded in DWM’s inventory tracking systems. DWM’s Bureau … [Read More...]

Focused on meeting its mandate of promoting efficiency and effectiveness in City government, the City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (IGO) today released its third annual report of Savings and Revenue Options for the City. This year the IGO’s Savings and Revenue Options Report is comprised of 31 options to cut spending or increase … [Read More...]

The IGO has released an audit of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) Evidence and Recovered Property Section (ERPS). The IGO audit found that CPD’s internal controls for ERPS failed to ensure that evidence and property were adequately protected, properly documented, and readily available when required.  IGO audit testing revealed that ERPS personnel could not locate … [Read More...]

On September 14, 2012, the IGO sent an advisory to the Mayor’s Chief of Staff regarding malfunctioning and missing security cameras.

The IGO has released recommendations it made to the Chicago Department of Buildings (DOB) to improve DOB’s enforcement of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) requirements. A City of Chicago Inspector General’s Office (IGO) inquiry into the DOB’s certificate of occupancy acquisition process found that in recent years as many as 48% of the properties … [Read More...]

The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (IGO) has published a review of the collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) that govern the relationships between the City of Chicago and its police officers and firefighters.  These CBAs affect nearly 17,000 current employees—over half the City’s workforce—and contain provisions that have a substantial financial impact on the … [Read More...]

The IGO has published a report on the Chicago Department of Procurement’s (DPS) emergency contracting process. The report details how DPS awarded a series of emergency contracts from March 2010 through April 2011 contrary to its own internal emergency procurement policies. Specifically, DPS awarded a supplier ten separate unadvertised emergency contracts for concrete sewer pipes … [Read More...]

On July 20, the IGO published a follow-up report to its 2011 Downtown Affordable Housing Density Bonus Program Audit. The report can be downloaded via the link on the right.

The IGO has published a review of the City’s position title reclassification process administered by the Department of Human Resources (DHR). The IGO review identifies deficiencies in the Reclassification Rules that inhibit the City’s reclassification system’s effectiveness, transparency and accountability. The City’s reclassification system is meant to ensure that employment positions are allocated to class … [Read More...]

The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (IGO) has transmitted its second quarter report for 2012 to the City Council and City officials. Available for download on the right of your screen, the report provides a summary of IGO activity from April 1 through June 30, 2012. City law mandates that the Quarterly include … [Read More...]

On July 3, the IG sent a letter to the City asking for input and ideas for consideration to the 2012 Budget Options Report. The letter can be downloaded by clicking on the link to the right.

The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (IGO) released a report on the Chicago Department of Finance’s (DOF) “vehicle immobilization program,” better known as the “boot program.” The investigation revealed that, as of late 2009 through December 2011, the DOF Street Operations division (formerly the Department of Revenue) failed to appropriately schedule and staff … [Read More...]

The IGO released a report on the Chicago Department of Aviation’s (CDA) contracting process, as well as the CDA’s response to the IGO’s findings. Following an investigation, the IGO identified lapses in the contracting process underlying the 2007 construction of a sidewalk at O’Hare International Airport. These lapses, similar to lapses identified in an IGO … [Read More...]

The IGO published a review of the process for establishing Special Service Area (SSA) taxing districts, as well as the official response to the report from the City’s Department of Housing & Economic Development (HED). The review was prompted by the City Council’s February 2011 termination of SSA #46, three months after the SSA’s first … [Read More...]

On May 4, 2012, the IGO transmitted a report to the City concerning the development of an abandoned plan to mount cameras on the City’s street sweepers in order to automatically issue tickets for parked vehicles obstructing regularly scheduled street sweeping. The IGO provided this report to ensure that the research and implementation efforts already … [Read More...]

For a printer-friendly version of this analysis, click here. The Inspector General’s Office has conducted an analysis of property taxes billed to property owners in Special Service Area (SSA) taxing districts that overlap with Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts.[1]  The analysis found that over 80% of SSAs overlapped with TIF districts in 2010 and 2011 … [Read More...]

The IGO published a report concluding that the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) wasted at least $171,000 on GPS service contracts that it failed to utilize. The IGO report details failure of management oversight and underutilization of resources, which spanned the terms of three CDA commissioners and involved multiple employees from the top down. In … [Read More...]

The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (IGO) today published recommendations made to the City Comptroller and the Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) regarding efficiency in operations and loss prevention. Recommendations and Response Regarding Cashiering The IGO recently conducted an investigation into allegations of theft at a Department of Revenue … [Read More...]

The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (IGO) released a report today on the City’s policy and process for issuing residency waivers for employees. For some years, the City has granted temporary waivers to the residency requirement for City employees. A recent IGO investigation prompted the IGO to review the waiver process, the City’s … [Read More...]

The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (IGO) today released a review of TIF Public Benefits Clauses and Charitable Donations. Private charitable entities are sometimes named as beneficiaries in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) redevelopment agreements (RDAs) through the inclusion of “public benefits” clauses. Public benefits clauses are terms in TIF RDAs (as well as … [Read More...]

Focused on meeting its mandate of promoting efficiency and effectiveness in City government, the City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (IGO) today released its annual report of Budget Options for the City. The IGO’s Budget Options report for the 2012 budget provides a total of 44 separate, stand-alone options to cut spending. This year’s … [Read More...]

Today, the City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (IGO) released a review of World Business Chicago’s (WBC) involvement in the City’s approval of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) proposals. The IGO report found that WBC staff advocated for the approval of significant TIF subsidies for two major corporations–CME Group and United Air Lines–despite the fact … [Read More...]

In 2009, 2010, and 2011, in the face of large budget deficits, one cost cutting strategy of the City of Chicago has been to require a portion of the City’s workforce to take unpaid time off (this strategy is commonly known as furloughs). Our review revealed that the furlough program has not resulted in a … [Read More...]

On June 20, 2011 the IGO received a response from the Public Building Commission (PBC) regarding the IGO’s June 15, 2011 report on MWBE participation on PBC projects that were completed in 2009. In the response, the PBC takes issue with several of our findings. The PBC’s main points were: The IGO does not have … [Read More...]

The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (IGO) yesterday transmitted a report to the City concerning overtime and holiday premium payments to certain “exempt” members of the Chicago Fire Department (CFD). The review had two primary findings. First, the CFD has been providing overtime, holiday premium payments, and other benefits to certain “exempt” CFD … [Read More...]

The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (IGO) released a report today on Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) participation on Public Building Commission (PBC) administered construction projects. The IGO reviewed 15 PBC projects either fully or substantially completed in 2009 to calculate actual MWBE utilization and compare it with MWBE participation statistics reported … [Read More...]

Today, the IGO released a follow up review of the City’s Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) program. This follow-up report details changes in the program over the past year, the challenges the program still faces, and recommendations for the new administration and City Council to consider in rebuilding the program to make it function … [Read More...]

On this page, you can find the 2011 Budgets for each of the City’s 43 SSAs. Each budget is broken down into different categories that attempt to detail how the service provider is using SSA resources. The two files directly below contain the combined budget for all 43 SSAs and a summary of the tax … [Read More...]

The IGO issued a review on the efficiency of the City’s use of Motor Truck Drivers (MTDs) today. The report finds that approximately 200 MTD positions are unnecessary to regular City operations and the City is required to continue using them only because of an overly restrictive Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Eliminating these positions would … [Read More...]

On this page, you can find documents that were used during our Review of the Efficiency of the Job Duties of City Motor Truck Drivers (MTDs). There are two types of documents presented. City department responses to our questions about how departments use MTDs. These documents were useful for the purposes of the review, but … [Read More...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (IGO) released a report today stating that the City publicly overstated savings realized from its furlough program by $11.05 million. Additionally, the IGO report found that the furlough program will result in increasing the funding shortfall of City employees’ pension funds by approximately $24.55 … [Read More...]

The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (IGO) released the Excel Version of the 2011 City Budget.

The administration’s response to the 2010 Budget Options can be viewed here.

With a renewed focus on the mandate in its founding ordinance to promote efficiency and effectiveness in the operations of City government, the City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (IGO) released its first report of Budget Options for the City today.

The Office of Inspector General (IGO) reviewed the City’s Home Repairs for Accessible and Independent Living (HRAIL) program. The review focused on how much of the program budget was spent on direct home repairs versus how much was spent on overhead and administrative costs in 2007.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Office of Inspector General (IGO) today issued a report recommending that the City consider implementing an integrated, fleet-wide Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system that tracks the movement of on-duty taxicabs. The program review and report was prompted by a recent hit-and-run incident allegedly involving a taxicab that resulted in the death … [Read More...]

The Inspector General’s Office has issued a report and recommendation resulting from an ongoing investigation of overtime payments to exempt members of the Chicago Fire Department (CFD) who are not included in Fire Fighters Local 2 Agreement with the City of Chicago. The investigation revealed that CFD exempt employees earned considerable overtime payments in the … [Read More...]

Following numerous investigations uncovering fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in the City’s Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) program, the Inspector General’s Office (IGO) conducted a program review to analyze the effectiveness of program administration and how actual participation in the program compares to statistics reported to the City Council and the public.

A new report released by the Inspector General’s Office sheds light on the manner by which the lease of Chicago’s Metered Parking System was planned, negotiated, and implemented. The independent review shows inadequate financial considerations by City officials, the failure to explore viable alternatives to the 75-year lease as a means to fill the 2009 … [Read More...]

Between May and September 2008, the IGO conducted an investigation of the City’s garbage truck crews in ten wards to determine whether the crews were actually working while they were on the clock. The IGO conducted such an extensive investigation because prior IGO investigations into similar allegations appeared to show that there was a widespread … [Read More...]