CHICAGO (WLS) — Chicago’s financial crisis was the center of attention at City Hall Friday.

A hearing focused on the police department’s budget as the city faces a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall.

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This comes after the The City Council voted to cancel Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed property tax increase. of 300 million dollars.

The municipal council meets with different departments to discuss their needs regarding the municipal budget.

Chicago police leaders spoke Friday with council members as they work to find a way to close the city’s budget shortfall and pass a budget before the end-of-year deadline. year.

Mayor Johnson’s current proposal includes a plan to eliminate 400 vacant positions within the CPD. Some community groups are critical of what Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling has proposed so far for his department.

Snelling appeared in the city council chambers Friday to discuss the department’s work and needs.

“There needs to be some level of education about what police officers do on a daily basis and the challenges they face,” Snelling said.

Many comments mentioned the recent death of Officer Enrique Martínez, who was shot and killed during a traffic stop.

“What just happened to our officer reminds us of the dangers that exist,” Snelling said.

The proposed budget for the CPD for FY 2025 is $2.1 billion, up 3 percent from FY 2024.

With the mayor’s rejection of the property tax increase, aldermen have opinions on what steps should be taken to reduce city spending and the potential impact on safety.

“It’s not enough to vote against property taxes. We all know that’s not an option,” said 25th Ward Ald. » said Byron Sigcho-Lopez. “What’s crucial is where we get the revenue from, and we’re also talking about cutting expenses, we already have a huge budget for policing.”

“We need to look at what we can do more effectively, because we’ve spent almost 50 percent of our money on public safety,” said 28th Ward Ald. Jason Ervin said.

“I don’t know if we have any other choices, and certainly we don’t want to raise property taxes, so if that’s our only alternative to eliminating the 400 vacancies, I’m OK with it,” the 38th said. Ward Ald. » said Nick Sposato.

“By cutting budgets, mental health services, community policing, those things, in my opinion, would hurt the effectiveness of our officers,” said 29th Ward Ald. Chris Taliaferro said.

Among the ways to save money have been discussions about getting more reimbursement from special event organizers, and Snelling says the new helicopters will increase efficiency and reduce costs. Exposure to costly legal action if officers wish to pursue their vehicles.

Some community members have expressed concerns about funding the CPD as proposed. A group spoke outside City Hall Friday morning, challenging things like increased funding for SWAT teams and the marine/helicopter unit.

“I lost my brother to gun violence. I found him lying in the alley with gunshot wounds to his chest. I remember the trauma, the loss and the feeling of being left alone to Picking up the pieces. We didn’t need more police, what we needed was support. I needed mentors and resources who could help prevent tragedies like this from happening. produce,” said Reynia Jackson, of GoodKidsMadCity.

The mayor said he remains true to his “values” of no layoffs or downsizing that “invests in people.”

But the CPD funding Johnson wants to cut would help the department with a federal consent decree, established after the police shooting of Laquan McDonald.

ABC7 Chicago obtained a letter from Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul sent to the mayor via a Freedom of Information Act request.

He said the city was “at risk of being held in contempt of court for failing to comply with the consent decree.”

Johnson defended his police reform efforts, saying the city hired more detectives to create better oversight.

On Thursday, 32 aldermen were also expected to file an amendment to include gunshot detection technology in the 2025 budget.

The proposal is for $15.8 million for gunshot detection technology.

ShotSpotter is scheduled to be completely disabled on November 22.

A new city budget is needed by Dec. 31.