Cook County Board Finance Committee Mid Year Budget Hearings​
July 20, 2021
Presentations - Office of the Cook County Treasurer and Cook County Health

Highlights of Presentations:

Treasurer

• The office is currently under budget with regard to expenses, but expects to come in at budget by year-end.
• The office has received $4.9 million over budgeted revenues thus far, mainly due to higher than expected people paying delinquent taxes
• Purchased two vans to re-purpose customer service employees to enable them to serve taxpayers in their communities rather than in the CC building.
• Also go to community events at churches, festivals, etc. to assist taxpayers with tax related issues.
• Treasurer touted the studies done by her staff and noted that she is hiring to establish a kind of "think tank" section in her office to conduct more studies, concentrating on the inequities within the tax system.
•  The office has a staff of 58 employees.  Continued concentration will be in technology hiring.

Cook County Health

• .  In total, Cook County Health (CCH) currently has $2.4 M more in revenues than expenses.
• .  There are 1,284 vacancies among the 6,802 budgeted positions.
• .  Most of the questions centered around Covid and the Delta variant, which will not be reported here.  There was emphasis on providing guidance to suburban school districts.  CEO Rocha said that for now they are waiting for the CDC to provide guidance.  If necessary, the CC Public Health Department will step in to do so.
• .  Commissioner Degnan asked about grant funding and the potential to increase it.  CEO Rocha responded that for a public hospital system we do a good job, but the goal is to have "extraordinary" results.  CCH will be making investments to develop an institute for grant funding.
• .  Commission Sean Morrison asked if CCH has established a dollar value for requested 2022 funds from the county.  Answer:  not yet, but should have by the August preliminary budget presentation.
• .  He also asked about efforts to improve the revenue cycle.  CEO Rocha stated that a new Chief Revenue Officer is now in place and noted that through the first quarter of 2021 revenue retrieval has increased to 30% and can be expected to move to the mid-30's by year end.  Interim Budget Director Gibson noted that the System is looking at non-direct patient care to improve.
• . In March 2021, a "patient homecoming" project was launched to promote the return of patients to the ambulatory care centers.  He stated he is very excited about the progress to date.
• . Daley asked about outreach to retired nurses.  CCH noted that a few came back for the mass vaccine sites and that the system is definitely open to more coming back to the system.

Observed by:  Diane Edmundson         

Cook County Board Finance Committee Mid Year Budget Hearings
July 20, 2021
Presentations - Cook County State’s Attorney, County Clerk, and Board of Review

Cook County State’s Attorney, Kimberly Fox

• Currently under budget by $4.7 M for 2021.  Has 109 vacancies (50 of which are attorneys) out of the budgeted positions of 1,241.
• Ms. Fox reviewed the office’s progress on the alternative prosecution program, the gun crime strategies unit and how they dealt with the pandemic.  The trial work will increase substantially now that the courts are opening.
• The commissioners’ questions focused on the current crime problems.   Commissioner Deer asked how much do mental health issues contribute.   Ms. Fox said a good proportion of the people arrested are dealing with mental health issues.   She would like to see more local sources for help such as the local mental health clinics that were closed several years ago.   
• Commissioner Aguilar asked about recent reports about repeat offenders being on bond and involved in shootings.   Ms. Fox explained how the bail process works and how it is the judge’s decision.   She said that the elimination of cash bail will help the problem, because many repeat offenders have enough money for bail.   
• Commissioner Degnen asked if the video hearings would continue for gender-based violence hearings.   The victims feel safer in that mode.   Ms. Fox said they were reviewing that.
• Commissioner Kevin Morrison asked about the attrition in the department.   There has been an uptick in retirements and other attrition.   They are getting applicants, but most are recent graduates.   Ms. Fox said they are also working on maintaining a level of expertise by recruiting experienced prosecutors from outside.  Commissioner Daley asked Ms. Fox to let the Commissioners know what they could do to help with HR recruiting and onboarding new staff.
• Commissioner Sims asked what would Ms. Fox wish for in the next budget.   She would like to have a full complement of employees for the criminal court, increased staff in the wrongful conviction unit and civil court, and improve the department’s technology in remote access and integration of data.   She would  like to expand the gun crime unit into the suburbs. It would help her attorneys if the court rooms had more up to date technology.
• Commissioner Sean Morrison asked if the department kept statistics on citizenship of offenders.   They do not.   The department has developed a Data Dashboard to track cases and they have most of the information on the felony cases captured.  The dashboard can be viewed on the office’s website.

Cook County Clerk’s Office, presented by Chief Deputy Clerk Cedric Giles

• Mr. Giles described the work that was done to incorporate the Recorder of Deeds office into the Clerk’s.   When they took over, there was an 800,000-document backlog.  Now there is only a 7 day’s delay in recording documents. The office worked with a third party on indexing.   He also reviewed the work on the spring election and gave statistics on the increase in vote by mail ( 487%) and early voting (20%) from the 2019 election. 
• Commissioner Degnen noted that the Clerk’s office  is above on revenue due to the housing market increase.   A staff person from the Clerk’s finance office said they are below on expenses.

Board of Review, presented by Commissioner Larry Rogers, with Commissioners Michael Cabonargi and Tammy Wendt  

• Currently is under budget by $284,941.
• Over the last 6 months, the BoR has handled 223,000 appeals.  They received appeals between October and December and finished by June 21.   They instituted a digital approval process.   They have BOR staff attend the PTAB (the state agency where tax payers appeal assessments) meetings to object to the further appeals.   They saved local taxing bodies $138 M in refunds as a result in successfully defending the County’s assessments at PTAB.
• The BOR generated $80,000 in revenue from a “Data Subscription Service” provided to high volume users at the BOR. The product is a compiled data package of BOR appeal decisions which allows users to digitally organize their filings and results.
• Commissioner Rogers addressed the reported alleged bribery scheme of a BOR employee.   The employee has been placed on administrative leave and the BoR has contracted with outside counsel to investigate.  Commissioner Rogers and Cabonargi stated that this person was an exception and that most of the BOR employees are hard workers.    Both stated that the employee had not been selected by any commissioner for their  staff.   He had been employed since 1995 and had been cross-trained on the appeals process.
• Commissioner Daley mentioned that the BOR needed to respond to the IG report.

Observed by Kathleen Graffam

Cook County Board Finance Committee Mid-year Budget Hearings
July 19, 2021
Presentations by Offices under the President, Public Administrator, Assessor, Secretary to the Board, and Public Defender

Highlights from the Presentations
Overview:

• 2021 Forecast for General Fund:  Project $60 M of revenues over expenses for fiscal year ending November 30, 2021.  This means that much of the $77 M from the Fund Balance (i.e., reserves) used to balance the 2021 budget will be paid back this fiscal year.
• 2022 Forecast for General Fund:  Currently projecting $80.5 M higher revenues over 2021, but also $140.8 M in higher expenses, largely due to normal yearly increases in salaries.  Thus, currently the gap is $60.3 M which the President and all the officials and departments will be working on to close by the time the proposed 2022 budget is presented to the Board in October.  The County must have a balanced budget by law.
• Health Enterprise Fund:  The Health Fund covers both the “provider side” (which includes the Counties hospitals, clinics, and other costs incurred to provide service, whether patients are able to pay or not) and the “managed care plans” which are for Medicare or Medicaid patients, County Care.
• 2021 Forecast for Health Enterprise Fund:  Project $30.6 M of revenues over expenses.  Number of County Care enrollees greatly exceeds projected numbers, which brings both higher revenues and expenses.
• 2022 Forecast for Health Enterprise Fund:  Currently projecting $381.7 M higher revenues over 2021, but also $442.8 M in higher expenses.  That results in a gap of $61.1 M that will need to be closed prior to the proposed budget being submitted in October.
• Asked how increases in the budgets over the years compare to inflation, CFO Ammar Rizki said that the increases are in line with inflation, if you take out County Care.
• Mr. Rizki also stressed that the County looks for structural solutions to cover any gaps between income and expenses, rather than one-time fixes.  In line with that, Commissioners Sims and Daley stressed that the County needs to be careful about adding more positions in light of the large influx of federal funds, but which won’t be there after the next 2 years.

Public Administrator - Lou Apostol

• The office administers estates of those who die without a will - the past year have done 720 investigations with over 320 cases ongoing
• Stated that their office continued to operate throughout pandemic and intend to continue to use Zoom in the future for their investigations
• Vivian Meyer case is coming to a close after a several year process
• No questions from the commissioners

Assessor - Fritz Kaegi

• The office has undertaken 2 big challenges this year with the City of Chicago reassessments and also moving off the main frame system into an integrated property tax system with modern technology. The Tyler Technologies is the backbone of the system and the Assessor’s office is the first phase of conversion to this system.
• Once the assessments for the City of Chicago are done Assessor Kaegi will have completed the assessments for the entire county since he came into office.
• The new system provides the tools to help with accuracy in assessments. The office has hired staff that can utilize the new tools to maximize transparency and efficiency. 
• His office has been working with the other departments that also deal with the property tax system to get the system up and running.
• Outreach from the Assessors office was managed largely through partnership with the offices of the commissioners and Assessor Kaegi thanked them for that.
• They now have a system that makes it possible to make appointments with their office online.
• He did address the issue about the accuracy of Sr. Freeze Exemptions which has been an issue in the media. He stated that the exemptions were not in conformity with the current guidelines and the office is rectifying the problematic exemptions that were granted previously. 
• In 2019 after he took over the office he requested an audit of the office that was done and presented to the Board that had 23 recommendations for improvement to the office. So far 15 have been implemented despite the interruption of the pandemic. 
• Comm. Daley asked how opening the office would be done. Kaegi said that the office is open now, appointments can be made online and there is a call center in place for questions. 
• Comm. Gainer made the point that changes in the tax structure need to be done and there is a lot of misinformation circulating about the Land Bank and the Scavenger Sale which is actually restoring property to a tax paying status. Education about the system does help people understand how economic development is helping to restore properties to the tax rolls. Kaegi responded by saying that the property tax system is complicated and very confusing for everyone and his office is committed to being transparent about the process and putting out all the data on how the taxes are determined. They want to educate the public about the system. The public knows what goes wrong and his office is trying to fix the things they can address. 
• Comm. Miller asked about the status of the state legislation that would in part require owners to provide property descriptions to assist in the assessment process. Opponents prevented this from being implemented but he said they haven’t given up yet and are hoping it may still be approved by the House in the Veto Session. It was approved by the Senate in 2019.
• Comm. Aguilar asked about fines that are assessed for erroneous exemptions that are claimed. Mr. Kaegi stated that some individuals have been back billed for what they owe. He also stated that the state tax code outlines what fines are allowed and they are trying to integrate with other systems for information so that errors will be avoided. He is also working on a process that will automatically renew exemptions so they don’t have to be claimed every year.

Secretary to the Board - Matt Deleon

• The pandemic made it necessary for the Board to use technology so they could continue to meet and operate. Microsoft Teams has been used for meetings and this required that everyone learn to use the technology. 
• Since technology will most likely be necessary for any hybrid model for future meetings it will be necessary to constantly support and maintain the technology necessary which will have budget implications.  
• There was a $15,000 investment in equipment for the board room to allow for a hybrid model for future meetings. 
• During the pandemic the President and the Board have met often with the public and this will probably need to continue.
• In order to ensure transparency in meetings and communications with the public there will need to be investments in personnel for technical support and for communications. 
• Opening the Archives Office has been in process for a year now since a manager for the office was hired. They are now getting back into a physical presence in their office and utilizing storage space for the items they have been collecting.
• Have been to Jail (Division 1 and 1A are set for demolition soon) and to Oak Forest Hospital to collect items and information for the archives.
• 2031 will be the Cook County Bicentennial Celebration and Matt is hopeful that funds will be solicited to provide private support in addition to any public funds used for the celebration.
• Comm. Anaya asked about what was learned about public testimony during the pandemic. Matt stated that none of the online platforms really lend themselves to public meetings that allow for public participation. Their office has used Teams and utilized breakout rooms to hold public speakers until they were allowed into the meeting for comments. In the future a format will be needed. Matt cautioned against only going to online testimony as there will still need to be an in person option for those who do not have internet access. 

Public Defender - Sharone Mitchell Jr.

• Budget on target for this year
• Challenges for the year were 1. Access to the criminal courts 2. Reducing the Covid 19 risks for their clients 3. Safety measures for employees 
• Continued with their goal of providing police station representation to clients
• Expanded the mental health access for clients
• Immigration unit has been launched although there are still positions to fill and still working an authorization to represent clients in immigration courts
• 13 new attorneys have been hired and there are still 42 positions within the office that need to be filled although they are not all attorney positions. 
• The office is seeking more grant money and has hired a person to work on this.
• The three primary issues going forward are 1. Caseloads continue to be too large 2. Training for all in the office 3. Technology solutions for case loads
• Comm. Daley asked about lessons from the pandemic regarding representation of clients. Mr. Mitchell said that they are still assessing how virtual hearings can be used. Also working on a court notification system to ensure that clients do not miss their court dates.
• Comm. Aguilar asked about the hiring of the immigration lawyers. Mr. Mitchell said the lawyers have not been hired and the job descriptions had to be updated and have now gone to HR. The caseworker and paralegal positions have been posted. 
• Comm. Sean Morrison asked how Covid impacted hearings. Mr. Mitchell stated that access to the courts was slower than in the past. Of the 13,000 cases at the beginning of Covid about half have been resolved. A backlog remains. The court system is beginning to move ahead now and his staff is back in the office. The Speedy Trial Statute was put on hold and will probably be reinstated soon. His office is ready to move forward now.
• Comm. Anaya requested a time frame for when the Immigration Unit will be operational. Mr. Mitchell said they are still working on a time frame. The expect to hire half of the staff this summer and by next summer (2022) they will be fully staffed and operational. Anaya also asked about technology that will be brought into the office. Response was that they are still evaluating the type of technology they need. One of their primary concerns is the retention of digital files. 
• Comm. Suffredin asked about the Speedy Trial Statute. Mr. Mitchell stated that in March 2020 the Illinois Supreme Court suspended the right to a speedy trial but the statute is expected to be reinstated on October 1. Mr. Mitchell says that the statute is the “gas” that moves the system along as it puts pressure on all to move the cases along. Comm. Suffredin said that the court system is going to need funds to ensure that they will be able to handle the cases going forward. 
• Comm. Daley asked about how long it takes to hire attorneys. Mr. Mitchell says it is a long process. The recent attorney hiring process began in January and the 13 new hires are starting in July. An additional 25 are needed. 8 attorneys have left in the last 3 months which is about the normal attrition. The office has just issued their return to work policy. 
• Comm. Sean Morrison asked if there are any areas where virtual hearings can expedite the process. Mr. Mitchell said there is a time and place for virtual meetings/hearings and this will need to be established. Some hearings need to be in person but what is the balance. Comm. Morrison stated that the issue needs to be discussed with your colleagues so the criminal justice process can be “reimagined”.

Observers - Pris Mims and Cynthia Schilsky

Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting  
June 24, 2021

The meeting was called to order at 10:00 am in a hybrid meeting with some commissioners present in the County Board Room and others connecting virtually.  Public speakers can now testify in person in the lobby area or virtually.

Testimony
Michael Stone of the Center for Disability & Elder Law voiced his support for the proposed ordinance amendment  to permanently reduce the Transfer on Death Instrument recording fee to $48.  This fee must be paid before the owner's death. Then the transfer of residential property from owner to beneficiary(s), upon the owner's death, is effective.  If the transfer is complete, probate can be avoided which aids low-income families and disabled people.  [The Commissioners approved the ordinance amendment [Substitute 21-3868] to reduce the Transfer on Death Instrument recording fee to $50].

American Rescue Plan:

• The March 11, 2021 American Rescue Plan Act's (ARPA)  purpose is recovery from the economic and health effects of the Covid pandemic.  The Federal government has allocated one a time-fund of $1,000,372,385 to Cook County.  May 19, 2021 Cook County (CC) received $500,186,192.50 and the next payment will be in 2022.  CC has until Dec 31, 2024 to spend funds, needing good management over the next three and one-half years. These funds are not limited to suburban CC and coordination is needed with the city of Chicago and the State.
• Agenda Item 21-3654: The CC Commissioners accepted the ARPA Federal Award and authorized the CC Budget Director and Comptroller to create a Special Purpose Fund for the award and the tracking of how the funds are spent.
• Agenda Item 21-3657: Implementation of the CC ARPA Framework was referred to the Finance Committee.  This gives the committee more time to discuss the details of the Framework.

American Rescue Plan Framework presentation

• The ARPA Framework is a comprehensive plan for CC's distribution of ARPA funds supporting eligible uses for Public Health, addressing negative economic impacts (business/housing/rental/food assistance), premium pay for essential workers, replacing public sector revenue loss, water/sewer, broadband infrastructure and transportation.  Plan calls for continued support and expanding those programs/initiatives created because of the Coronavirus Relief Funds received from the 3/27/20 Federal Cares Act.
• Decision making will be based on core values of equity, engagement and excellence.
• Community Engagement: Community input to be incorporated into decision-making and the focus is on historically disinvested communities and those hardest hit by Covid-19.
• CC will assist smaller communities with the technical assistance applying for and managing  funds, the proper accounting of funds and reporting to the Federal U.S.Treasury.
• Spending Plan Approach
• Identify near-term funding opportunities
• Launch of community engagement website with survey for community needs and  funding priorities
• Identify potential Transformative Initiatives for the long term such as workforce development.  These initiatives/programs, providing support services/assistance to vulnerable communities, need to be sustainable in the future without ARPA.  The sustainability of the initiatives is key to paying dividends in the future.
• An Executive Leadership Council is being developed that will finalize CC ARPA spending plans to be integrated into the FY2022 budget for CC Board approval

Other Board Action:

• 21-3809: The proposed appointment of Karen E Kim, MD. MS. as Director to the CCH Board of Directors was referred to the Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee.
• 21-3127: The appointment of Lyndon Taylor as a Director to the CCH Board of Directors was approved starting 7/1/21 to 7/1/25.  Mr. Taylor is head of the Chicago office of Heidrick & Struggles International, an executive search firm and served on the Board of Directors of Lurie Children's Hospital.
• 21-2804: A four year contract was approved with Deloitte & Touche LLP to manage critical security services to oversee cyber security 24/7.
• 21-2805:  The Enterprise Service Bus (EBS) was implemented in 2016 for secure data sharing, routing messages and monitor exchanges between criminal justice agencies.  A five year contract was approved to continue to build on the existing EBS platform's data sharing between courts, sheriff,  police, prosecutors, defense attorneys and IL Dept of Corrections.
• 21-3855: A proposed resolution to call on President Joseph Biden to send Federal Resources to fight and prosecute violence in CC was referred to the Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations committee for further discussion.  In Chicago to date in 2021: 293 people murdered and 1,702 shot.  There were 632 carjackings in all of CC to date in 2021.  Treatment for shooting victims treated by CCH can cost taxpayers as much as $50,000 per victim.  The CC Medical Examiner notes increased workloads.  The President has indicated that it will send Federal resources when requested such as anti-violence program funding, Federal law enforcement officers, prosecutors, investigators, and economic investment in endangered communities. 

Commissioner Suffredin commented that CC's Legal Aid, Housing Counseling and Foreclosure Mediation Program along with the CC Emergency Rental Assistance Program (rent and utilities) is playing a big role in preventing evictions and mortgage foreclosures in parallel with the extended eviction moratorium.

Observed by Michele Niccolai                                                                 Meeting Length: 4 hours