Chicago’s financial watchdog says the city shelled out $26.5 million in overtime over five years to workers who may not have been entitled to it, at the very moment City Hall is scrambling to plug a massive budget hole.
The review, covering Jan. 1, 2020, through Dec. 31, 2024, flagged more than a thousand city employees and zeroed in on 18 workers who each collected between $250,000 and $700,000 in overtime alone. The findings drop as officials try to close an estimated billion-dollar gap in the 2026 budget, turning a dry payroll problem into a very live political headache.
According to a report by the City of Chicago Office of Inspector General, 1,072 employees received potentially improper overtime totaling $26.5 million in that period. “The City’s finances are, needless to say, in an extremely precarious place,” Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said in a statement that accompanied the release.
Departments and scale
Nearly 80% of the questionable overtime landed in just five city operations: the Chicago Fire Department, the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, the Department of Water Management, the Chicago Police Department and the Chicago Public Library, according to CBS Chicago.
The inspector general’s office said employees in 24 city departments were touched by the issue, along with the Board of Elections, the Office of the City Clerk and the City Council. In other words, this is not about a single rogue payroll clerk, it is a system-wide problem.
Big overtime earners
The analysis singled out 18 employees whose overtime hauls ranged from $250,000 to $700,000 each over the five years, a group that accounted for roughly one-quarter of all the potentially improper pay identified in the report. Those specific details and dollar figures were reported by FOX 32 Chicago, which obtained the inspector general’s materials.
Recommendations and city response
In an advisory that accompanied the report, the inspector general’s office urged the city to start routine payroll audits, tighten and clarify job descriptions, and step up training so managers know how to apply federal overtime rules correctly. It also recommended stronger coordination between the Department of Human Resources and the Department of Finance to prevent bad payments before they go out the door.
The report said DHR and DOF “largely concurred” with those recommendations and committed to steps that are supposed to tighten controls, according to the office’s release.
Budget implications
The timing is no accident. The inspector general’s office released the findings as city officials wrestle with a major budget shortfall; WTTW reported that Chicago is staring at a likely $1.2 billion deficit in the 2026 spending plan, which turns eight-figure overtime mispayments into something far more than a bookkeeping curiosity.
The inspector general’s office said it shared its findings with DHR and DOF “in the hopes that they might inform the City’s 2026 budget process,” a detail highlighted by FOX 32 Chicago.
What to watch next
Inspector General Deborah Witzburg has already said she will leave the office in April after a single term, which means she will not be around long-term to see whether agencies actually follow through on the fixes, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
City officials have agreed to consider the advisory during budget talks. Watchdogs, aldermen, and union leaders will now be tracking whether promised audits, new training, and sharper job classifications translate into fewer improper overtime payments or if this report becomes just another thick file gathering dust at City Hall.
