Cook County Board Finance Committee - Budget Hearings
Oct. 23, 20018 afternoon session Cook County Land Bank Cook County Clerk Recorder of Deeds Commissioners Present: Daley, Boykin, Silvestri, Morrison, Goslin, Schneider, Gainer, Moody and Deer. As the observer for this meeting, I was struck by 2 things. The reports went extremely quickly especially compared to last year. This year no department took over 20 minutes as compared to well over an hour each last year. Also the commissioners asked very few substantive questions. Mostly they had comments and compliments for the heads of each department. Highlights of each department include: Cook County Land Bank Director Rob Rose explained the mission of the land bank is to buy up abandoned and foreclosed properties and resell them to potential owners at reduced prices. The main group of buyers for these properties are homeowners. The main geographic areas of focus are the west and south sides of Chicago and the southern suburbs. When no buyers can be found, the Land Bank is responsible for upkeep of the property including lawn care and snow removal. Some of their successes include:
Cook County Clerk: David Orr explained that his office is not just about elections, though it seems that way at this time of the year. His office handles tax revenue collection from over 1500 separate taxing bodies in Cook County. And if you want to get married in Cook County his office provides the certificate. During his tenure as Clerk, Mr. Orr cited some successes:
Commissioner Silvestri thanked him for making a paper back- up ballot mandatory when using the touchscreen. Commissioner Schneider said that he has defended the Clerk’s performance vehemently over the years whenever the right wing of his party criticized him. Lots of good luck wishes could be heard as he left the room. Recorder of Deeds Karen Yarbrough said that her office always brings in more money than she spends. Since she took over in 2012 her numbers of FTE’s are down 50%. Some of her successes include:
Commissioner Morrison asked about the merger between her office and the clerk’s office. She said that no talks have begun yet on formulating a plan for the merger. In other counties, she said the county boards have given out plans for such a merger, but she has not received any instructions from this board. But she has plans to get the 2 staff groupings together early next year. David Orr has also promised to help with this process. She has a team in place to instruct her on the workings of the Clerk’s office. Observer - Jan Goldberg
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Cook County Board of Commissioners Finance Committee - Departmental Budget Hearings
October 22, 2018 Bureau of Finance - Budget Overview Office of the President Office of the Independent Inspector General Commissioners present at least most of the time: Moody, Daley, Schneider, Suffredin, Boykin, Deer, Arroyo, Moore, Fritchey, Gainer. Overview of the Budget - Ammar Rizki, CFO, and Tanya Anthony, Budget Director:
Comm. Daley several times reminded the other Commissioners to submit questions in writing that are not answered at the meeting. The answers will then be posted on the website. Office of the President - Lanetta Hayes Turner, Chief of Staff:
Office of the Independent Inspector General - Pat Blanchard, Independent Inspector General (IIG):
Observer - Karin Hribar Establishment of Independent Revenue Forecasting Commission Approved by Cook County Board10/25/2018 Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting - October 17, 2018
Commissioners Present: All but Commissioners Butler and Goslin Approved Items of Interest: The following items referred from Committees of the Board were approved with no discussion:
Other Items Approved:
Item of Interest for future meetings:
Observer: Beverly Graham Meeting Length: 1 hour and 50 minutes Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting - September 26, 2018
The Board approved the following resolutions:
Deferred Items:
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