All Cook County Departments Should Be Off The 1970’s Mainframe Computer by the End of July!

Cook County Board of Commissioners
Technology & Innovation Committee
April 9, 2025

The Committee heard reports from Cook County offices on the status of their technology projects.  Items 25-1609 and 25-1610 were received and filed.  Following are highlights of the information presented at the meeting:

Bureau of Technology(Cook County Chief Information Officer Tom Lynch and Deputy Derek Thomas)

• All departments should be off the old mainframe by the end of July, 2025!  The legacy mainframe dates to the 1970’s, and there is no manufacturer support or employees with knowledge, so this is a necessity.  
• The new Integrated Property Tax System is expected to go live for all users (Assessor, Board of Review, Clerk, and Treasurer) on May 27 after all identified defects addressed and final testing and employee training completed.

Assessor’s Office (Chief Information Officer, Nathan Bernacchi)

• In response to questions from the Committee on whether there were any concerns about the rollout of the new Integrated Property Tax System and getting the 2nd installment tax bill out on time, Assessor’s Chief of Staff Scott Smith said that all offices are cooperating to test and respond quickly to any unforeseen circumstances.
• Asked whether the new system will allow employees to go out to community meetings to assist tax payers by answering questions and helping them with tax exemptions, Mr. Smith said yes.  Also the faster upload of data and improved presentation of data will be of benefit.  For the first time, all the offices involved with the property tax system will be on the same system, ensuring the same data.
• Using technology, have upgraded customer service through (1) new online appointment system and queuing for phone calls, with text notifications of return call; (2) pending is new chat and customer relationship software.
• Studying disaster-recovery options, and AI pilot projects

Treasurer’s Office (Chief of Staff and Chief Information Officer David Burns)

• Current focus is on the new Integrated Property Tax System:  defects need to be resolved and training of Treasurer’s staff in progress.
• Benefit of the new system include updating in real time, as opposed to previous overnight updates.
• At same time as the Integrated System goes live, will be replacing existing cashiering system with Tyler cashier system and will also be using the new call center technology from Tyler.
• Separately working to create the ability to pay tax bills for multiple pins with a single payment transaction.  Will also allow taxpayers to provide routing and account number for any tax refund to be sent directly to their account.

Board of Review (Chief Information Officer Adnan Memon)

• Implemented the Taleo system for hiring on April 7, which most of County has been on. 
• Automation in process to enable file sharing for the Property Tax Appeals Board cases.

County Clerk’s Office (Director of Networking Andrzej

• Migration to cloud for Clerk’s Recording system will launch April 14.
• A new accounting system is being built from scratch.

Clerk of the Circuit Court (Chief Information Officer Vivek Ananda)

• Totally off the main frame as of March 21!  Have extracted and saved all data from the main frame, so now erasing all data on the main frame, which is expected to be done by end of April.
• For the Clerk’s Justice Case Management System, working on elements involving the Traffic division, including online payments and request for court dates.
• Working with Sheriff’s and State’s Attorney’s offices on other projects.

Cook County Sheriff’s Office (Chief Information Officer Amar Patel)

• Completed cloud migration for jail management system.
• Working with Clerk of the Circuit Court on interface with docketing system

Chief Judge’s Office (Director of Information Services Mike Carroll)

• The Jury Administration and Selection system should go live on April 28.  That is the last of this Office’s systems on the main frame.
• Thanks to a grant from the Illinois Supreme Court and assistance from the County, every courthouse in Cook County now has WiFi access for the public, with Rolling Meadows to be completed by the end of June.
• Court’s website will be ADA Compliant by June, much earlier than deadline set by Illinois Supreme Court.
• Public Guardian’s new juvenile case management system, $4 million awarded on April 1, 2025 with expected go-live April 2026.

State’s Attorney’s Office(Chief Information Officer Derek Ganier)

• Ensuring Pre-Trial Fairness Act guidelines and all other processes are covered in new systems.
• Searching for options for long-term cold storage for evidence.
• Looking for automated electronic search warrant system.

Observer:  Victoria Cerinich