Cook County Board of Commissioners Finance Committee Meeting
October 28, 2025

Board of Review – Larry Rogers, Jr., George Cardenas, Samantha Steele

Proposed 2026 Budget:  $ 23.96 Million    Proposed 2026 Positions:              177.0
Actual 2025 Budget:        $ 21.30 Million    Actual 2025 Approved Positions:   167.0
Difference:                          +$   2.66 Million    Difference:                   + 10.0

Comm. Rogers, the current chair of the Board of Review (BoR), had a conflict, so Liliana Escarpita, the Secretary to the BoR, gave the presentation.  Comms. Cardenas and Steele were also present to answer questions.

• The additional positions are for each of the Commissioner’s staffs (now each has 42 positions), administration, Information technology, and Legal.  The BoR will be negotiating its first contract with a bargaining unit that will now be representing 2/3s of the employees.  A labor counsel and additional person in personnel are being added as a result.
• The amount of budgeted overtime is being cut by 36% as a result of the additional positions and further efficiencies in dealing with appeals, also made possible with the additional technology positions.  For 2025, the BoR will utilize less than the budgeted overtime.
• Comm. Lowry asked whether the Assessor and BoR are now using the same parameters for assessments.  Comm. Steele said that the Assessor is not loading the CAP rate for all commercial properties, which results in over-assessment.  
• Comm. Steele said that a major reason for inaccurate assessments by the Assessor is the lack of physical review of all properties in the County.  Every county, except Cook, is required under state law to have such reviews.  However, Comm. Steele said that the cost is high:  she estimated $60 per parcel and Cook has 1.6 M parcels, 1.2 M of which are residential.  The benefits would be more accurate assessments resulting in fewer appeals and the public having more confidence in the assessments, which would also help reduce the number of residents and businesses leaving the County.  Comm. Steele said that Cook County has a 33% appeal rate vs. about 5% nationwide.
• Comm. McCaskill asked why drones and advanced software were not being used to accomplish the physical reviews.  Comm. Britton mentioned that the Board had recently approved a contract to utilize drones and Comm. McCaskill might want to talk to the Technology Bureau or Jim Thompson, the Director of Tax Policy for the President.
• Comm. Vasquez asked whether there are any specific policies that should be pursued at the State level.  Comm. Steele said a cap on assessment increases for properties.  She said that her staff was talking about looking at the impact of having ICE agents active in the area on people not coming to events to  learn how to appeal and on small businesses closing due to lack of customers.  Comm. Cardenas added that there needs to be a circuit breaker to help lower income people pay property taxes.

Chicago Board of Elections Commissioners – Sandra Aspera, Executive Director
Proposed 2026 Budget:  $ 23.57 Million    Proposed 2026 Positions:                4.0
Actual 2025 Budget:        $   1.05 Million    Actual 2025 Approved Positions:     4.0
Difference:                            +$ 22.52 Million    Difference:                       --

Also appearing with Ms. Aspera were Max Bever, Director of Public Information, and Adam Lasker, General Counsel for the Board of Elections (BoE).  The BoE is responsible for voter registration and elections within the City of Chicago, while the Cook County Clerk handles those functions for Suburban Cook County.  The BoE is partially funded by the County and partially by Chicago.

• Ms. Aspera gave the overview.  For 2026 the BoE will handle the March 17 Primary and November 3 elections and will recruit and train 8,000 election workers, 2,000 of which are expected to be high school and college election judges.  The Board will also be handling the election of 21 candidates for the Chicago School Board.  A new Super Site will be located at 137 S. State in downtown Chicago.  The BoE has a new not-for-profit postage rate that resulted in a savings of $600,000 for the annual voter canvas.
• Comm. Stamps asked whether there is a budget to use to expand voter participation in lower turnout areas.  Mr. Bever explained that in addition to the annual voter canvas, there is a mailing to households closer to the election which provides the closest early voting location and the local polling location, as well as provide information on voting by mail.  There is also reach-out via publications and working with community groups and churches.  There will also be a new mobile app that will allow for reminders for voting. The costs for all of this is covered by the budget funded by Chicago. 
• Comm. Stamps asked about whether there is a danger that vote-by-mail will not be allowed.  Mr. Lasker said there is a challenge at the U.S. Supreme Court on Illinois’ 14-day period to count vote-by-mail ballots postmarked on or before election day, but received after that day.  Mr. Lasker said that the worst-case scenario resulting from that case would be that Illinois would not be able to count such ballots received after election day.  Mr. Bever said that the BoE currently has 150,000 registered voters on the permanent vote-by-mail list and that roughly 1/3 of those casting ballots use vote-by-mail ballots, either mailing or using the secure drop boxes.
• Comm. Vasquez asked whether there are discussions about beefing up election central to receive calls in the event that ICE agents would be near the polls or attempting to enter into the polls.  The response was that election central is going to be beefed up, but that there is a need to bring the discussion up with the State Board of Elections.  
• Comm. Morita asked whether there are any functions that the BoE does that are not done by the Clerk’s office for Suburban voters.  Given the answer was “no,” Comm. Morita asked whether there are redundancies that could be eliminated if the two offices merged.  Mr. Bever said that he did not see any significant cost savings that could be achieved because the same number of election workers and polling places and equipment would be needed.  Each election authority has roughly 1.5 M voters.

Public Administrator – Louis Apostol
Proposed 2026 Budget:  $ 1.955 Million    Proposed 2026 Positions:              15.0
Actual 2025 Budget:        $ 1.890 Million    Actual 2025 Approved Positions:   15.0
                Difference:           +$ 0.065 Million    Difference:                       --

Louis Apostal could not be there so the General Counsel for the Office, Leah Jakubowski, gave the presentation. 

• The Office manages estates for those who die without a will and works to find the heirs.  The fees for such management are charged to the estates, and the Office generates far more money than its expense budget.  It has generated $2.2 M in fees in 2025 and expects to have received 120% of its target revenue by the end of the year.
• Comm. Stamps asked about community engagement to educate people, particularly in lower income areas, about what happens if you die without a will.  Ms. Jakubowski said that there has been none, but that as a result of similar questions from Comm. Stamps at the mid-year budget review, the office is starting to identify community organizations that the Office could contact to offer to send a speaker.  Comm. Stamps strongly recommended that the Office connect with the Clerk’s office which has a “Property after Death” program.
• Comm. Stamps also asked where the estates that the Office manages are located.  Ms. Jakubowski said that the Office would provide a list by zip code.

​League Observer:  Priscilla Mims

Cook County Board of Commissioners Finance Committee Meeting
October 29, 2025

State’s Attorney Office – Eileen O’Neill Burke

Proposed 2026 Budget:  $259.3 Million    Proposed 2026 Positions:              1,519.8F FTEs
Actual 2025 Budget:        $221.3 Million    Actual 2025 Approved Positions:   1,452.0 FTEs
   Difference:                      +$  38.0 Million    Difference:                    +   67.8  FTEs
Note:  Requested $266.0 Million ($6.7 Million more than President recommended) and 1,647.8 positions (128 more than President recommended)

• State’s Attorney Burke provided a slide presentation which illustrated the growth (1) since 2018 compared to 2024 in hours of videos in criminal cases, that must be reviewed, (2) the workloads from 2023 through an estimate of 2026 in Victim Witness Domestic Violence workload and Victim Witness cases; and (3) the increasing workloads for investigations from 2024 to projected 2026.  All of this is in support of the increase in personnel and budget recommended by the President and the additional people and money requested by the State’s Attorney.
• The number one priority is for more Assistant State's Attorneys (ASAs).  But in addition, want more people for digital forensics, domestic violence victim witness specialists, and technology support so can obtain and use data to determine if on the right track or whether changes in policies and structure and training are needed.  Further, expect the need for more staffing and investments in technology and training in the next two years’ budgets.
• The State’s Attorney also presented information on the detention request rates of the prior State’s Attorney and current one (about the same for violent crime, and higher for aggravated domestic battery and machine gun cases) and the detention approval rates (higher for all 3 types of crime).  In response to a question from Comm. Lowry, the State’s Attorney said that an important change leading to the increase in judges approving detentions is that the office is doing more robust investigations, including that the ASAs now have access to civil orders of protection, prior to the First Appearance Court proceeding. 
• The State’s Attorney is restructuring the Special Victims Unit to encompass violent crimes beyond domestic violence as they are all are dealing with trauma.  Using a vertical prosecution model so that one ASA will be with the victim from the beginning throughout so that the victims do not have to repeatedly tell their stories and be retraumatized at each retelling.
• Several Commissioners asked about the role of the State’s Attorney with regard to federal immigration officers and protests.  The office is meeting once a week with all the other stakeholders, but the office and County have no standing to sue or take the officers to court as long as they are acting within the scope of their employment.  The State can and has sued and the office did provide an amicus brief as to why there will be irreparable harm if the National Guard or military is deployed.  One point made was that of the 100 largest cities in the U.S., Chicago is now #80 in terms of crime.  The office also filed an amicus brief in the Sanctuary City case.
• Comm. Vasquez and Trevor asked about what else can be done if someone sees federal officers violating the law.  The only immediate recourse is for people to contact the U.S. Attorney’s office as it is that office which would have jurisdiction.
• In response to a question from Comm. Stamps, the State’s Attorney said that she has been discussing ideas for restorative justice options with the incoming Chief Judge.  
• A great need of the office is for a case management system.  The office is now working with a consultant to identify the different needs in all the areas and they hope to have an RFP in the coming months, with the first phase of a new system ready to be implemented by the end of 2026.  In response to Comm. McCaskill, none of the current or future systems will be tied in with the Criminal Justice system being spearheaded by Tyler.  Getting a video management system will help shorten the time it takes to go to trial.
• The State’s Attorney also stated that there has been no reduction in the Conviction Integrity Unit.–Under her predecessor there were 3 ASAs assigned; now there are 4.  

Capital Budget – Tanya Anthony (CFO), Tom Lynch (CIO), Jenniefer Killen (Supt. of Transportation & Highways), and Jaimie Meyers (Interim Chief, Bureau of Asset Management
​
                             Value of all Capital Projects    Not including operating funds
Proposed 2026 Budget:  $592.5 Million             $319.3 Million    
Actual 2025 Budget:        $666.3 Million             $355.6 Million    
  Difference:                       ($  73.8 Million)            ($   36.3 Million)
Note:  some project are financed through bonds and some projects, following the “pay as you go” concept, utilize operating funds when available rather than increasing the County’s debt load.

• The Capital Budget is for 3 types of projects:  (1) Capital Improvements to the County’s facilities ($260.1 M, 43.9%), (2) Transportation & Highways ($176.8 M, 29.8%), and (3) Capital Equipment, that includes technology ($155.6 M, 26.3%).  All proposals go through a review process and a determination is also made as how much money will be available.
• The Capital Improvements include work at Provident and Stroger Hospitals, redoing/re-stacking of departments in the County Building, and solar installations (including solar EV charging stations).  Since 2010, the County has reduced its greenhouse emissions by 52% and has realized an annual savings of $14.8 M.  The new Board room should be ready to turn over to the Secretary to the Board in February for testing of all the equipment and training of Commissioners and staff prior to its first use for meetings.
• Transportation & Highways will have both capitalized projects ot $176.8 M and non-capitalize projects of $257.9 M.  Most of the projects are financed by Motor Fuel Tax Funds from the State gasoline tax (63.4%).  Among the major projects is an update to the long range transportation plan.
• Capital equipment dollars will be used for IT hardware, IT implementation, IT systems and software, IT implementation,  fixed plant/institutional equipment, medical and laboratory equipment, vehicles, and furniture.

Observer:  Priscilla Mims