Audit of City Council Committee Spending and Employee Administration

Executive Summary

The Office of Inspector General conducted an audit of City Council committee spending and employee administration. Council committees review proposed legislation within their defined subject matter areas and vote on whether to recommend its passage by the full Council, hold hearings (both on specific ordinances and on more general topics related to municipal governance), and process some administrative matters via legislation, such as permits for sidewalk cafés and business awnings. Each committee has its own budget in the City’s annual appropriations ordinance.

The objectives of the audit were to determine whether Council committees:

• comply with Municipal Code of Chicago § 2-8-071 regarding employee recordkeeping; and
• comply with the City’s annual appropriations ordinance regarding committee expenditures and use of committee staff.