CPS presents $9.88 billion FY27 budget with deficit plan that includes five furlough days and TAN borrowing

Acting budget officials presented the Chicago Public Schools' FY27 tentative budget on July 20, describing a $9.88 billion package across capital, debt and operating funds and a multi-part plan to reduce an initial $732.5 million deficit.

"We published a budget last week for yours and the public's consideration that protects our most important investments," the acting chief budget officer said, then walked through revenue and spending breakdowns: capital approximately $600 million, debt $794 million, and an operating budget of about $8.48 billion. Staff corrected an initial slide note and clarified that roughly 64% of revenue is local (mainly property taxes), while evidence-based funding (EBF) accounts for about 26% of state revenue.

In the staff's deficit-reduction tally, structural actions (school and central office reallocations, procurement savings, healthcare adjustments) accounted for $330 million of recurring savings, narrowing the gap. Additional measures to bring down the balance to $297.6 million include increasing TIF surplus assumptions by $100 million (to a total of $200 million), implementing five districtwide furlough days beginning in January on non-instructional days, and a midyear spending freeze coupled with contractual savings projected to yield another roughly $112 million.

Staff emphasized the timing risk: without a budget and tax levy approved this month, the district cannot secure the TANs borrowing necessary to cover near-term cash flow, and "without new FY27 TAN borrowing authority, CPS will not make payroll for staff in September," the budget presentation warned.

The administration said that, depending on additional revenue, it would aim to roll back furloughs or freezes and would protect instructional time; it also noted the district was pursuing additional Medicaid reimbursements, state grant revisions, and other revenue-maximizing efforts.