Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting
December 14, 2023 Board Action: The first hour of the meeting was devoted to the Consent Agenda and to public speakers. When ready for the business of the meeting Comm. Daley asked that a vote be taken to consider an item from the Third New Items Agenda, Agenda Item #24-0583, out of order. The motion to do so was approved and the amended Paid Leave Ordinance was moved for consideration.
Comm. Degnan raised an issue with Agenda Item #24-0029, a contract with LexisNexis. She stated a concern that vendors should not be able to collect data that they can then bundle and sell. She asked that language be included in contracts to ensure prohibition of this process. Tanya Anthoney, CFO, said that they are developing a strategy with the Bureau of Technology, the Procurement Department, and the States Attorney’s Office to strengthen the language in this type of contract. Comm. Quezada questioned a contract extension, requested by the Chief Judge, with a company for radio frequency electronic monitoring (EM). (Agenda Item #24-0009) He indicated that there are more problems with this type of EM equipment than with GPS monitoring. A representative from the Chief Judge’s office stated that of the 1700 persons in their EM program about 200-400 use the radio frequency equipment. The 7 month extension is being requested so they can complete the RFP process for a new vendor that began in July of 2022. Testing of the equipment takes a long time. This item was deferred after questions from Comm. Anaya and Comm. Stamps were not answered to their satisfaction. Most remaining items on the agenda were bundled by department and approved with no discussion. All the items in the 5 sets of New Items were done at once with some items being referred to committee and some items being approved. Meeting lasted 3 hours and 40 minutes. Previously on December 12 and 13 a number of the Board Committees met, and among the items of interest dealt with are the following: December 12 Health and Hospitals Committee Dr. Hasbrouck, COO of the Cook County Department of Public Health, presented the Quarterly COVID and Infectious Disease Update. Highlights of the presentation:
December 13 Finance Committee A public speaker expressed concern that a budget amendment was approved during the budget process adding 4 people to the staff of the Board of Review (BoR). He stated that the amendment process did not allow for rebuttal from the public. He stated that the BoR needs to be reined in.
Finance Sub-Committee on Litigation All business including the Inspector General (IG) 3rd Quarter Report was conducted in closed session and the IG report was voted on to Receive and File when the committee returned to open session. No public discussion. Transportation Committee Jennifer Killen, Superintendent, Department of Transportation and Highways, gave a presentation about 2 programs that will use ARPA funds for various projects.
Asset Management Committee Two items provoked discussion
Observer - Cynthia Schilsky
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Special Cook County Board and Finance Committee Meetings
November 16, 2023 Completing a process that began this summer, the Cook County Board unanimously passed a budget for fiscal year 2024 totaling $9.26 B on November 16, 2023. This budget contains no increases in taxes or fees. It does continue to utilize ARPA funds of about $264.3M, mainly for special programs, as opposed to ongoing operations. However, as part of this budget, the County has also begun setting aside some funds for future use to continue those ARPA programs that are deemed most beneficial beyond 2026, when no further ARPA funds may be spent. See the Observer Reports on the Budget meetings that were held on October 24 thru 26 that are posted on this web site for more information about the initial proposed budget. The 2024 fiscal year begins December 1, 2023. Amendments to the Original Budget Proposal The $9.26 B budget passed reflects an increase of $126 M over the initial budget proposed by President Preckwinkle in October as a result of 7 of the 22 amendments approved at the Finance Committee meeting:
Public Speakers at the beginning of the Special Board Meeting included
Observer: Priscilla Mims Cook County Board Finance Committee Departmental Budget Hearings
October 25, 2023 - morning session Clerk Of The Court—Iris Martinez 2024 Total: $135,144,132 2023: $127,821,336 2024 FTEs: 1,429 2023: 1,509 Following are some key items from this meeting:
Secretary To The Board—Lynne Turner 2024 TOTAL: $2,155,000 2023: $2,045,000 2024 FTEs: 12 2023: 12 Following are some key items from this meeting:
Sheriff—Tom Dart 2024 Total: $708,458,429 2023: $674,966,716 2024 FTEs: 5,744 (a decrease) 2023: 5,839 Following are some key items from this meeting:
Karin Hribar, Observer Cook County Board Finance Committee meetings with:
Cook County State’s Attorney (Kimberly Foxx) Proposed 2024 Expenditures: $292.7 M 2023: $195.1 M General Funds: $132.9 M 2023: $127.8 M Special Purpose Funds: $ 26.1 M 2023: $ 23.2 M Restricted (Grants): $ 43.8 M 2023: $ 44.2 M 2024 Total FTEs: 1,441.0 2023: 1,470.0 General Funds: 1,244.2 2023: 1,244.0 Special Purpose Funds: 39.0 2023: 43.0 Restricted (Grants): 157.8 2023: 183.6 Following are some key items from this meeting:
Cook County Board of Review (George A. Cardenas, Samantha Steele, Larry R. Rogers, Jr.) Proposed 2024 Expenditures: $20.1 M 2023: $18.0 M General Funds: $19.6 M 2023: $18.0 M Special Purpose Funds: $ 0.5 M 2023: $ 0 2024 Total FTEs: 163 2023: 157 General Funds: 163 2023: 157 Following are some key items from this meeting:
Cook County Treasurer (Maria Pappas) Proposed 2024 Expenditures: $15.5 M 2023: $13.5 M General Funds: $ 0.7 M 2023: $ 0.7 M Special Purpose Funds: $14.8 M 2023: $12.8 M 2024 Total FTEs: 76.0 2023: 75.5 General Funds: 6.0 2023: 7.0 Special Purpose Funds: 70.0 2023: 68.5 Following are some key items from the meeting:
Chicago Board of Elections (“BOE”) (Charles Holiday, Jr., Executive Director) Proposed 2024 Expenditures: $26.4 M 2023: $ 1.7 M (all Election Fund) 2024 Total FTEs: 4.0 2023: 4.0 Note: The Chicago Board of Elections runs elections in the City of Chicago, while the Cook County Clerk is responsible for elections in suburban Cook County. A portion of the funding for the Board of Elections is paid for by the City of Chicago, including the cost of all but 4 of the employees of the Board. Cook County pays the costs of the 3 Election Board Commissioners and the Executive Director each year. A much greater amount is allocated by Cook County to the Board of Elections during even years to cover a little less than half of the costs of the Primary and General elections. The proposed 2024 budget at the City for the Board is an additional $34.5 M.
Land Bank Authority (Jessica Caffrey) Proposed 2024 Expenditures: $ 7.0 M 2023: $5.4 M Special Purpose Funds: $ 6.3 M 2023: $5.0 M Restricted (Grants) $ 0.7 M 2023: $0.4 M 2024 Total FTEs: 18 2023: 15 Special Purpose Funds: 18 2023: 15 Following are some key items from this meeting:
Veterans Assistance Commission (Agency Head, Maj. Deanna Love, USA, ret.) Proposed 2024 Expenditures: $1.14 M (all General Funds) 2024 Total FTEs: 11.0 This Commission was reorganized as a result of a new state law and related County ordinance, which is why no information for 2023 is provided.
Observer: Priscilla Mims Cook County Board Finance Committee
Departmental Budget Hearings Oct. 24, 2023 Finance Committee meetings with
Budget Overview (Tanya Anthony, Kanako Ishida Musselwhite, Dean Constantinou) Proposed 2024 Expenditures: $9.14 B 2023: $8.79 B Healthcare: $4.37 B 2023: $4.1 B Public Safety: $1.56 B 2023: $1.5 B Finance & Admin. $ 958 M 2023: $ 862 M Capital Projects: $ 756 M 2023: $ 723 M Annuity & Benefits: $ 439 M 2023: $ 513 M Debt Payments: $ 312 M 2023: $ 305 M Economic Development $ 296 M 2023: $ 328 M Fixed Charges & Other: $ 294 M 2023: $ 270 M Property & Taxation: $ 144 M 2023: $ 132 M Following are some key items from this meeting:
Offices under the President (Lanetta Haynes Turner, Chief of Staff) 2024 Total: $2.18 B 2023: $2.10 B The Offices are the Bureaus of Administration, Finance, Human Resources, Technology, Economic Development, and Asset Management; Departments of Administrative Hearings and Human Rights & Ethics; Justice Advisory Council; and Office of the County Auditor Following are some key items from this meeting:
Cook County Health (Israel Rocha, Jr., Pam Cassera) 2024 Total: $4.38 B 2023: $4.12 B Health Enterprise: $4.25 B 2023: $3.99 B Special Purpose: $0.05 B 2023: $0.06 B Restricted (Grants) $0.07 B 2023: $0.06 B 2024 Total FTEs: 7,682 2023: 7,988 Health Enterprise: 7,326 2023: 7,634 Special Purpose: 176 2023: 115 Restricted (Grants) 180 2023: 239 Following are some key items from this meeting:
Office of the Public Administrator (Louis G. Apostol) 2024 Total: $1.72 M 2023: $1.7 M 2024 Total FTEs: 15 2023: 15 Following are some key items from this meeting:
Observer: Susan Gregory Cook County Board Finance Committee Budget Hearings
October 25, 2023 - 1pm Cook County Clerk - Karen Yarborough 2024 Request Total: $76,772,474 2023 Approved: $65,849,554 2024 Total FTEs: 349 2023 FTEs: 351 Key Items from the Meeting:
Office of the Independent Inspector General - Interim IIG - Steve Cyronoski 2024 Request Total: $2,456,335 2023 Approved: $2,307,093 2024 Total FTEs: 19 2023 FTEs: 19 Key Items from Meeting:
Assessor - Fritz Kaegi 2024 Request Total: $35,848,794 2023 Approved: $35,000,768 2024 Total FTEs: 296 2023 FTEs: 286 Key points from the meeting:
Chief Judge (CJ) - Tim Evans 2024 Request Total: $343,259,173 2023 Approved: $329,470,661 2024 FTEs: 3,031 2023 FTEs: 3,020.3 Key points from the meeting:
Capital Budget - Tanya Anthony/ Jennifer Killen/ Tom Lynch/ Elizabeth Granato 2024 Proposed Total: $539.1M $238.6M for Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for County facilities $154.3M for Transportation and Highways Program (THP) $146.2M for Capital Equipment Program (CEP) for County departments PowerPoint presented outlining all these programs. Key Point from Questions:Comm. Miller asked Tom Lynch, Bureau of Technology, for clarification on cost and time frame for the various technology projects. He stated the following:
The meeting was recessed at 7:15pm. Very few commissioners still remained in the room. Observer: Cynthia Schilsky |
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