Cook County Board Approves $5.9Billion Budget for 2019

Cook County Board and Finance Committee Meetings - November 15, 2018

By unanimous vote (15 to 0, with Commissioners Butler and Garcia absent), the Cook County Board approved the budget for fiscal year 2019 that begins on December 1, 2018.  Prior to that vote, the Finance Committee (a committee composed of all the Commissioners) approved 16 amendments which are incorporated into the final budget.
These amendments include one which increased the Revenue for the General Fund amount by $11.4 million based on (1) higher surplus in TIF accounts released by Chicago, (2) higher projected revenues by the Treasurer, and (3) projected increases in reimbursements from other governments.  This additional $11.4 million was disbursed by several amendments which

• Increase General Fund expenditures by $5.6 million through a “Technical Amendment.”  In the past, these Technical Amendments generally did not increase the total expenditures, but simply moved amounts around from what had originally been proposed.  The League thus far has not been able to identify where the additional funds are to be spent.
• Add 10 employees to the Board of Review for $661,102 for the purpose of defending assessments before the Property Tax Appeals Board.  During the meeting with the Board of Review, Commissioners were told that such additional employees would more than pay for themselves with the savings achieved by successfully defending assessments.
• Add 43 new positions to the Sheriff’s area to add patrols to help stem violence on the south and west sides of Chicago and in the southern suburbs, for a total of $1 million.
• Use $1 million to provide and coordinate reentry services for formerly incarcerated.  Such services will include mental health and substance abuse services.
• Add 16 Assistant State’s Attorneys and a clerk for $1.4 million for the Civil Division of the State’s Attorney’s office.  Again, it is expected that this expenditure could pay for itself by enabling the County to seek damages/amounts owed in civil cases and/or to do more work in-house at a lower cost than hiring outside counsel.
• Utilize $500,000 to fund services for pregnant and postpartum individuals awaiting trial.
• Utilize $1.25 million to fund outreach marketing efforts to increase participation in the 2020 census.  Obtaining an accurate count is critical to the County and State obtaining their appropriate share of government funds based on population, as well as appropriate Congressional seats.
• Utilize $70,000 to increase funding for the office of the Commissioner who will serve as President Pro Tempore.

Commissioner Fritchey gave a warning about using these potentially one-time funds for creating positions, even as he voted for the amendments and resulting budget.
Two other amendments:

• Would create up to 11 analyst positions at the Board of Review for assessment appeals, but only to the extent there are actual receipts from the newly enacted Board of Review Bulk User Fee to cover the costs.
• Would allow newly elected officials (the Recorder, Clerk, and 5 new Commissioners) to create new positions by transferring amounts from other accounts within their budgets (so no overall increase in their budgets).  

The Finance Committee meeting lasted less than 1 hour, the shortest budget amendment meeting since the League began observing in the mid-2000’s. 
Observer - Priscilla Mims