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Cook County Board Passes “Justice for Black Lives” Resolution

8/2/2020

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Cook County Commissioners - Board and Committee Meetings
July 27, 29 and 30, 2020

Key items passed by the Board:

“Justice for Black Lives” Resolution. The substitute non-binding resolution calls on monies for policing and incarceration to be redirected to public services, not administered by law enforcement, which will promote community health and public safety, particularly in Black and Brown communities most impacted by violence and incarceration. Such services to include housing, health care, mental health, restorative justice, job creation, public transport, eviction/foreclosure, and increasing opportunities for Minority-owned and Women-owned business enterprises. Passed with 15 votes; Commissioner Aguilar voted present and Commissioner Sean Morrison voted no, both expressing concern with the idea that the resolution calls for defunding the police. Commissioners voting in favor say that this lays out priorities for reducing crime and promoting opportunities through these other means. The upcoming 2021 budget (which will be considered in October and November) will offer the first opportunity for the Commissioners to start to carry out the resolution. (Agenda Item 20-2867)
Resolution to utilize $82 million of money County received under the CARES Act to aid economic recovery from COVID-19. (Agenda Item 20-3229) See the Observer Report for the Special Board Meeting on July 16 for details of the distribution.

Other Items of Interest Discussed in Committees:
Finance Committee:

County’s Use of CARES Act funds: CFO Ammar Rizki reported that the $429 million has been allocated for (1) County’s operational costs (46%), (2) County’s direct costs incurred (23%), (3) spurs for economic development across the County (19%, the Resolution described above), and (4) $51 M for eligible costs incurred by suburban municipalities (12%, as described in the Observer Report for the July 16 Special Board Meeting). New guidance comes out regularly from the U.S. Treasury as to how these monies can be spent. Mr. Rizki said that with $300 M in lost revenues to the County, it is critical that now County can use the CARES money to cover some salary and benefit costs. However, Mr. Rizki said that CARES Act money can only be used to cover hazard pay for those employees directly dealing with COVID positive people (health care workers and correctional officers in the Jail). So hazard pay provided to other people will not be covered, based on current information. Mr. Rizki stressed that with many people predicting a spike in COVID cases in the fall, the County needs to conserve some of these funds to cover future costs.
To date, 439 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.
So far, no monies have been allocated to township governments, which have other options.
Mr. Rizki receives a weekly report of which municipalities have requested monies under the $51 M allocation by the County and will share with the Commissioners so they can make sure municipalities in their districts are applying for that money.
Cook County Health has received $59 million of CARES Act funding in May in addition to the above as a health care provider.

Audit Committee:

Clean audits received for both the County as a whole and Cook County Health (“CCH”) for fiscal year 2019. County has a Fund Balance that would cover 2 months of expenses, which is considered what is necessary. (Agenda Items 20-2685, 2687)
Auditor stated that CCH’s receivables tend to be risky, but thinks there are sufficient reserves to cover delinquencies. Liabilities include $477 M of claims to County Care for outside (“foreign”) providers, $236M which are identified and the rest based on management estimates of what claims will be submitted after the fiscal year for care provided during the fiscal year. Comm. Miller asked for breakdown of these “foreign” claims so they will know where people are going for care outside of CCH’s facilities. Comm. Morrison wants to know dollar amount not collected due to mistakes; this goes beyond scope of this audit. Andrea Gibson, CCH interim chief business officer, will be setting up meetings with the Commissioners. She said that CCH is now catching out-of-network people and so not providing service under County Care. Also, CCH is making sure getting pre-authorizations required by other insurers.
Clean audit for Clerk of the Circuit Court, except that fees not disbursed in timely manner as required under Illinois Clerks of the Courts Act. (Agenda Item 20-2653)

Legislation & Intergovernmental Relations Committee:

Review of the Final Recommended Plan for consolidating the Recorder of Deeds functions into the Office of the County Clerk. Estimated cost savings during 2021 is $1.1 M, and annual savings thereafter over next 3 years estimated at $6 M. Expect reductions in positions down to 79 for recorder’s work due to streamlining and broadening of work done by an employee. Savings also due to moving Clerk’s Vital Records area from Daley Center pedway to Recorder’s office on main floor and moving Clerk’s offices on 14th floor of 69 W. Washington to Recorder’s administrative offices in County building. (Agenda Item 20-2745) Next review by Commissioners of this consolidation will be in the proposed budget submitted in October.

Items to watch for at next Committee meetings, likely during the week of Sept. 21:

Agenda Item 20-3562: Proposed “Residential Tenant & Landlord Ordinance,” which was referred to the Finance Committee. Co-sponsor Britton said that this is modeled on the Chicago and Evanston ordinances. Would spell out tenant and landlord rights and obligations.
Agenda Item 20-3482: Proposed resolution requesting hearings every month of the Criminal Justice Committee with the Sheriff and senior staff to discuss the operation of the Jail and Police Department (responsible for unincorporated areas plus some suburban towns under inter-government agreements). Referred to Criminal Justice Committee.
Agenda Item 20-3435: Proposed resolution supporting the Illinois NAACP State Conference and Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police Ten Shared Principles. Referred to Law Enforcement Committee.
Commissioners Deer and Moore each submitted separate proposals to add Juneteenth as a County holiday, which were withdrawn. The Commissioners said they would work to add this holiday without putting an added expense to the budget.

Note: The Cook County Board and most of the Board Committees are not scheduled to meet again until week of Sept. 21, though Commissioner Suffredin wanted the public to know that everyone is still working and Commissioners continue meeting virtually in small groups (so as not to violate the Open Meetings Act) each Sunday with key County personnel.

Observer - Priscilla Mims

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Midyear Budget Hearings Continue with Cook County State's Attorney Presentation

8/2/2020

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Cook County Board of Commissioners Finance Committee
Mid-Year Budget Hearings - July 28, 2020

State’s Attorney

General Information
Revenues - Revenue was $238,000; that is down $178,667 which is a 42.3% variance.
Expenses - Actual expenses were $59,343,256 which is variance of 4.3% ($2.7 Million)
Holdback Target - Holdback target achieved

Other information of interest:

State’s Attorney’s Office (SAO) fees consist entirely of certain fees for felony and misdemeanor convictions in the Circuit Court and imposed by judges. Revenue has historically begun to decrease. The trend points to a continued decline; court closures due to Covid19 has exacerbated the decline.
Most hiring for attorneys occurs after the July bar exam so vacancies are carried in the first half of a fiscal year which represent the variance. Prior to mandated FY2020 appropriation reduction due to Covid19, the office rescinded 43 attorney offers that were tentatively planned to occur between Aug-Sept., and negotiated 75 delayed hiring of vacant positions to meet target reductions due to Covid19. Less expenditure payment requests associated with case activity, supplies, operations and delayed maintenance has resulted in decreased expenses until normal operations resume.
The SAO Case Management System is in the review stage; expectation is that the proposal will come before the Board in FY2020.
Holdback target was met by delayed hiring on open positions, non-personnel reductions, and estimated savings from furloughs.
SAO piloted Paperless Digital First project during the office closures; Its success has resulted in rolling out the approach to the entire criminal and special protection bureaus so that information can move throughout the supply and information chain without paper and those underlying costs.

Observer - Carolyn Cosentino

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Midyear Budget Hearings Continue

8/1/2020

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Cook County Board of Commissioners' Finance Committee
Midyear Budget Hearings - July 22, 2020

Public Defender
General information available from report online:

Actual operating expenses as of 5/31/2020 $36,254 530. This was a 2% variance. FY2020 YTD Budget was $37, 254,530.
Holdback target of $5,094, 821 was not yet met. Amount achieved was $3, 020,947 which were line items. $2 million in COVID-19 related expenses are expected to be reimbursed through CARES Act. Office currently has 35-40 vacancies holding off on hiring until year end unless critical. 43 attorney office hires were rescinded for Aug-Sept. Hiring has been impacted by COVID-19 related issues.

Other information of interest

Closure of cases has been impacted by court closures for 2 1/2 months and has impacted fee collection. Revenue began to decrease in FY 2019. No corrective action at this time; dependent on return to normal conditions.
Case Management Evaluation system will be proposed for Board approval in 2020.
Preliminary forecast for 2021 is that the office would not be able to meet budget targets. A $9 million reduction for FY 2021 would result in a reduction of over 100 employees. Anticipating both backlog of cases due to COVD-19 and uptick in violence this summer, the results would be a high volume of cases of all types. In addition to lawyers, outreach workers, social workers, and paralegals are needed.
Reduction in funding would eliminate resources to defend clients; assigning clients fo private attorneys would be more costly, perhaps as much as $6 million. Over-burden of case can likely lead to lawsuits.
Implementation of Mental Health Resource Unit is in progress. Currently one psychologist has been hired and been reviewing cases since and establishing relationships with community organizations and stakeholders. 31 referrals have been accepted by this one staff member.
Police Station Representation Unit (PSRU) continues to build awareness through outreach and networking with community partners. The goal for FY 2020 was to double police station visits to over 2,000 to maximize calls for counsel to represent people in custody. Due to the impact of COVID however, calls and virtual visits have declined and the goal will not be met. 18% of those provided counsel at the station house were not charged with any offense, demonstrating the effectiveness of the unit.
Plans to provide improved service to clients, including those in its conflict division and non-citizens who are best served by lawyers specializing in immigration law were presented. Implementation is dependent on having the necessary resources as demands on this office increase.

Observer - Carolyn Cosentino

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Cook County Board Passes “Justice for Black Lives” Resolution

Midyear Budget Hearings Continue with Cook County State's Attorney Presentation

Midyear Budget Hearings Continue

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