Cook County Board Finance Committee’s Mid-Year Budget Meetings
July 31, 2024

Following the death of Cook County Commissioner Dennis Deer (D-2nd Dist), the Democratic Party ward committee persons whose wards include part or all of the 2nd District, met and elected Michael Scott.  He will serve as the 2nd District Commissioner until December, when the winner of the November election will take office for the remaining 2 years of the term.  Commissioner Scott joined the Finance Committee for this last day of mid-year budget hearings.  

Following are some of the highlights of the meetings with the (1) State’s Attorney, (2) Chief Judge, (3) Inspector General, (4) Secretary to the Board of Commissioners, (5) Head of the Veterans Assistance Commission, and (6) Public Defender.

Meeting with State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx

• After several years of a significant number of unfilled positions, SA Foxx reported that the office has a net increase of 40 employees so far, with 75 new graduates expected to join after successfully passing the bar exam.  This is the highest “class” in years, more than the classes from the last 2 years combined.  There has also been a 30% drop in resignations as compared to last year.
• SA Foxx attributed the turnaround in hiring and retention in part to the increase in salaries recently approved by the Board after a compensation study completed late last year.  
• Also helpful, said SA Foxx, is the office’s participation in the County’s retention bonus program this past year.  
• Finally, there is the increase in the hiring of support staff which results in the attorneys being able to spend less time on administrative work and more time on legal work.  
• SA Foxx would like to see the office continue to add to the number of support staff and technology positions, saying that in most offices there are 2 support staff per attorney, while in the SA office, it is the opposite.
• SA Foxx was asked about a recent Sun-Times story about the lack of government corruption cases brought by the SA office.  SA Foxx said the office does have a public corruption unit, but that the US Attorney’s office, which has traditionally brought most of the corruption cases in this area, has far more resources, including the use of the FBI for investigations.
• The SA office received $2.4 M in federal American Rescue Plan (ARPA) dollars for the office’s gun crimes strategy unit.  SA Foxx said that the unit was started in 2017 by putting assistant state’s attorneys in police districts which had the most gun incidents.  ARPA has allowed expansion.  SA Foxx thinks the office will be able to sustain the efforts through other funding sources once the ARPA dollars run out.
• SA Foxx said that the Pre-Trial Fairness Act, which went into effect in Sept. 2023, has had a smooth roll-out in her office.

Meeting with the office of the Chief Judge Timothy Evans

• Chief Judge Evans also had good news on the hiring front, with 23% fewer vacancies at this point as compared to last year.  He attributed the improvement to the office’s use of a new hiring system platform called Jazz HR, which prospective employees find easier to use.
• The Chief Judge reported that the program to resolve eviction cases has helped 55,000 tenants, as well as small landlords, and has been honored nationally.  
• The latest Restorative Justice Community Court has just opened in Commissioner Miller’s 4th District.  The Chief Judge said he is considering adding 4 more such courts, 3 in this next fiscal year in the 5th, 14th, and 16th Commissioner districts.
• The Chief Judge said that the pilot for extending the hours of the Domestic Violence Court for protective orders has shown him that there is a need to have the court operate 24/7.  He plans to talk to the other County officials who provide support to see if and when this can be accomplished.
• One remaining impact of Covid is the continued use of hybrid and remote hearings and other court proceedings, which the Chief Judge said offers a number of advantages. For example, witnesses can appear remotely, making it easier to get their participation.
• The Chief Judge’s web site has a number of statistics posted, including for the implementation of the Pre-Trial Fairness Act, which eliminated cash bail in Sept. 2023.  Among other things: (a) in 18% of the criminal cases, the State’s Attorney files for detention of the accused, which is granted 60% of the time; (b) of those defendants released (whether it be on their own reconnaissance or on electronic monitoring), 88% come back to court for future proceedings on time; (c) 87% of the time, the defendants who have been released pending trial are not charged with any new offenses.  Of those released, only 1% are accused of violent offenses that occur during that release.  See https://www.cookcountycourt.org/court-reports-statistics. 
• There has been much discussion with the Board in the past on the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (“JTDC”), and this continued at this meeting.  Chief Judge Evans said that the contracts approved by the Board with Chapin Hall of the University of Chicago to identify best practices regarding juveniles accused of crimes are on track.  They are looking at creating assessment centers where youths would first be sent and then, when appropriate, the young people could be sent to a center of care that would house 10 to 20 youths, in lieu of the JTDC (which currently houses 210).  The Chief Judge wants to do a pilot program, and he has identified both an assessment center and center of care for young women, and he hopes to have one for young men soon.  
• Commissioner Kevin Morrison was very critical of the JTDC Superintendent for not knowing how many juveniles at the JTDC have identified themselves as LGBTQ.  The Superintendent said that there are opportunities for the youths to self-identify if they wish, but his concern is the safety of all those in his care, regardless of identity.  Comm. Morrison is concerned that LGBTQ juveniles are not getting the care they need, remembering the abuse that he endured in school.  After some testy exchanges, the two agreed to meet separately and discuss further, and Comm. Lowry asked to be included in that discussion.

Meeting with Inspector General Tirrell Paxton

• Under budget for the 6 mos. of fiscal year   $1,024,314 out of budgeted $1,078,193; will stay within budget rest of year
• 19 FTE budgeted; 3 vacancies—working currently to fill them
• Intergovernmental agreement with MWRD involves a payback, so a wash in budget

Meeting with Secretary to the Board Lynne Turner

• Challenges in retaining and filling vacancies (due to burn out, family responsibilities)
• 13 FTE budgeted; 9 filled, 4 vacancies (improved from the beginning of this fiscal year)
• New board room is expected to be done by Dec. 2024, but everyone needs training on using the technology, etc. so won’t be used for a while
• The room will have ADA accessibility , closed caption on video, electronic voting (have to be in the room to use it), QR code for agendas instead of print

Meeting with Veterans Assistance Commission Head Elizabeth Soto

• 11 budgeted FTE, 8 vacant
• Mainly provides emergency aid for veterans—$270,000 to 1,287 veterans so far this year 
• Under budget mainly because of hiring issues
• Grant funding from Federal government coming along well
• Commissioner Trevor and others want more satellite offices in home districts using current commissioner offices—many veterans have difficulty getting to VAC office near Stroger campus

Meeting with Public Defender Sharone R. Mitchell, Jr.

• Just under budget on YTD spent 95%—$44,588,108
• Wants lower caseloads for attorneys—still too high compared to national standards
• 828 FTE budgeted with 694 filled; 60 more will be filled by year end
• New computerized case load management system
• Have classes of newly graduated lawyers going through training in PD office to work there once they have passed the bar exam 
• Some grants have lapsed due to not getting the programming organized; Freedom Defense Center (in Austin) grant was successful; this helps integrate and support accused into programs to help with housing, work, health, etc.
• Challenges include case load amount, space issues, technology issues, hiring process issues
• Current programs being funded by ARPA should be sustainable after 2026 when ARPA ends

Observers:  Priscilla Mims and Karin Hribar

Cook County Board of Commissioners Finance Committee Budget Hearing
October 24, 2023

Cook County Public Defender  (Sharone R. Michell, Jr.)

2024 Total:        $102.3 M        2023:  $96.6 M
   General Funds:    $  86.0 M        2023:  $81.8 M
   Special Purpose:    $  15.7 M        2023:  $13.5 M
   Restricted (Grants):    $    0.6 M        2023:  $  1.3 M
2024 Total FTEs:    831            2023:    810
   General Funds:    823            2023:    791
   Special Purpose:        5            2023:       6
   Restricted (Grants)      3            2023:      13

Following are some key items from this meeting:

• Mr. Mitchell shared a slide showing that currently the average caseload per asst. public defender is 486.  The current national standard is 400.  However, that slide also showed that if the Board had not approved the increase in the budget for 2023 that allowed for more hiring, the average would have been 650 cases.  
• In response to questions from Comm. Gainer, Mr. Mitchell said that the time it takes to hire has improved, though still needs to get better.  But he said the bigger issue now is not the time it takes to hire, but the need to expand the pool of applicants.  The office has been visiting local and national law schools to raise the profile of the office to do that.  Mr. Mitchell could not tell Comm. Gainer how long it does take to hire, but said he would provide that information. 
• The office currently has 99 vacancies out of 698 positions, though there are either offers out or offers going out for 10 of those vacancies.  Mr. Mitchell sees that it is going to be a multi-year effort to fill all positions.  This year the office has hired 77 people, 55 of those being attorneys.  
• Mr. Mitchell said that currently retention is solid, and the office has not had the problems that other public defender offices have had elsewhere.  But his office is talking to Human Relations about participating in retention bonuses.
• Comm. K. Morrison discovered during questioning that while Volume II of the Budget Book shows that the department budget request equaled the President’s recommendation, the original department request was higher, and the request amount shown in the book is what the department ultimately agreed to.  Comm. Morrison said that the Commissioners need and want to know what the actual requests were.
• In response to a question from Comm. Stamps, Mr. Mitchell said that implementation of the Safe-T Act that prohibits monetary bail has been going well. 

Observer:  Priscilla Mims

Cook County Finance Committee Meetings on the Budget
October 24, 2022, 12:30 pm-3:30 pm

Public Defender (“PD”) -- Presented by Public Defender Sherone R. Mitchell Jr.  
                        2022         Proposed 2023
Budget            86.2 M              96.9 M
FTE                   747                     803
Mr. Mitchell’s main issue was the need to hire more attorneys so that the caseload for each lawyer can be reduced.   Now it is above the average of other large city public defender offices.  This office uses the County HR department, and it is taking 4-6 months from posting to start date for new attorneys.   The PD  has started an Immigration Unit Pilot program to help non-residents in immigration removal proceedings.  The PD will establish a pretrial division to handle the extra work required by the Pretrial Fairness Act.

Commissioners Degnan and Gainer expressed concern about the length of time in the hiring process.   Commissioner Gainer asked if the ARPA or Equity Funds could be utilized to help the situation.   She also suggested the PD get its own HR hiring department like the State’s Attorney has.  Commissioner Daily pointed out that the State’s Attorney was a separate office.

State’s Attorney -- Presented by Kim Foxx, State’s Attorney
                        2022         Proposed 2023
Budget            195.7 M              194.1 M
FTE                  1,432                  1,475
Ms. Foxx said the Office was ready for the Pretrial Fairness Act.  She said that there has been a lot of mis-information about the law.   Ms. Foxx is working with legislators to clarify the statute, and they hope to get the changes in during the veto session.  The attrition in the Office is high but on a par with other State’s Attorney Offices.  There are 107 vacancies out of 746 attorney positions.   There are 237 total vacancies.   It takes 3-4 weeks from job posting to a candidate starting.

Commissioner Gainer asked if there would be enough State’s Attorneys to handle the additional work required by the Pretrial Fairness Act.   Commissioner Morrison asked how the process will be different in January.  Ms. Foxx explained the changes and that the judge still has the power to hold an offender if he is a threat or a flight risk.   Commissioner Morrison also asked Ms. Foxx to review the prosecution discretion policies that she has established in regard to retail theft and low-level drug offences.  He also asked that she set up a commission with suburban police chiefs to discuss the policies, and she agreed to do that.  

Commissioners Aguilar and Daley expressed concern about the high crime rate and its affect on the public.   Ms. Foxx reviewed the high conviction rate of her office and said the issue is that there are low arrest rates.   

Board of Review (“BOR”) -- Presented by  Larry Rogers Jr. and  Michael Carbonargi, two of the BOR Commissioners.  Commissioner Tammy Wendt did not participate
                        2022         Proposed 2023
Budget             16 M               17.8 M
FTE                    151                  156
Mr. Rogers stated that the 2nd installment property tax bills will be issued by Thanksgiving and due by December 30th. He also stated that the BOR asked for an increase of 26 FTE, but were only approved 5 FTE.  He said the appeals process for the BOR takes 10 months.   Since they got the final township assessments in December instead of July last year, the tax bills were delayed for this year.  Rogers expects the bills will be delayed next year, too.   Mr. Rogers says that the BOR needs the extra staff to help with the processing delays.

Commissioner Dailey asked Finance Officer Annette Guzman to review the request for more staff.   Commissioner Gainer asked about the progress in the adoption of the Tyler system and both Mr. Rogers and Mr. Carbonargi said she should ask the Bureau of Technology.  Commissioner Daily pointed out that the BOR did not participate at the Technology Committee meeting last week.  Mr. Rogers said they submitted an updated report.

Land Bank Authority --Presented by  Director of the Land Bank Eleanor Gorski
                        2022         Proposed 2023
Budget            10.7 M              5.2 M
FTE                   15                      15
Ms. Gorski reviewed the activities of the Land Bank.   1200 properties were put back on the tax roles.   The agency has a goal to reduce its aged inventory.    It also has a grant of 5M from the Equity Fund to establish affordable housing on current Land Bank property.   Commissioner Morrison asked who will make the decisions about those funds and it will be the Board of Directors of the Land Bank with community input. 


Secretary to the Board of Commissioners -- Presented by Secretary Lynne Turner
                        2022         Proposed 2023
Budget            1.8 M              2.0 M
FTE                   11                     12
The office provides legislative support and information to County Offices and the public as well as maintains the County Archives and Records Office.   There were over 1000 public comments to the Board meetings this year.   They will begin closed-captioning of meetings and are exploring electronic voting, which is contingent on in-person meetings.

Observer:  Kathi Graffam

Cook County Board Finance Committee
Departmental Budget Hearings: Day 2
October 26, 2021

Cook County Public Defender - presented by Sharone Mitchell and staff
Proposed 2022 Budget - $84,102,421                        2021 Budget - $80,839,889
              (Both include General Funds, Special Purpose Funds and Grant Funds)
Proposed 2022 - 750 FTEs                 2021 - 700 FTEs
Presentation by Sharone Mitchell focused on 4 Challenges within the office.
1. Caseloads/Workloads

• Office continues to have caseloads that are too high compared to other PD offices and also according to national standards
• Office handles misdemeanor as well as felony cases
• Adding an additional 50 positions that will include an additional 20 attorney positions

2. Records Maintenance and Retention

• Current system is antiquated. Showed a slide of boxes of files wrapped in plastic that are stored in warehouse and date back to the 1970’s. 
• Legally mandated to maintain records for a certain period of time - ie homicide records need to be kept for 20 years after completion of sentence
• Building a team that will address the current issues and work towards digitization - 7 new positions in budget  

3. Professional Development

• “Nutshell” training provided yearly - 3 days of training on many topics - attorney staff attends every other year
• Have focused on attorney training in the past but would like to address professional development for other employees
• Increasing budget by $50K for professional development and adding one new position

4. Technology

• Technology needs are changing for how office operates not only in maintaining and storing files but also in technology needs at trial and the need for investigators to have laptops etc.
• Funds included in budget request to conduct a technology audit 
• Funds also included in budget request for computer refresh and to accommodate investigation needs - 2 new FTEs included for technology

Questions from Commissioners

• Comm. Anaya asked about the new Immigration Unit. It is not up and running yet as the 2 attorney and 1 case worker positions did not receive qualified applicants and had to be reposted
• Comm Degnan asked about the decrease in grant funding. Mr. Mitchell and staff indicated that 2 grants have been extended and the budget will be revised to show that and also the office has applied for more grants that are not included now but probably will be received. Comm. Degnan also asked about the possibility of state funding for PD offices. Mr. Mitchell said there is a report entitled “Right to Council in Illinois” that he helped with from the Supreme Court of Illinois. He is concerned that if the state gets involved in funding there will be unfunded mandates. He also said the idea of a statewide PD office that would exclude Cook County has been looked into as many PD offices have difficulty with funding. She also asked about the position of Mitigation Specialist (MS). 5 new MS positions are included in the budget. Mr. Mitchell explained that these Specialists help the PD attorneys by investigating a clients background to help with any plea bargains or in sentencing to ensure that clients are treated fairly 
• Comm. Arroyo asked about the percentage of Latino attorneys. Mr. Mitchell stated that it is 4% and they are making efforts to increase that percentage.   

Cook County Clerk - presented by Karen Yarborough
Proposed 2022 Budget - $76,502,087                      2021 Budget - $56,472,352
           (Includes Corporate Funds, Election Fund, Special Purpose Funds, Grant Funds)
2022 includes $8,823,854 allocated from the American Rescue Plan Special Purpose Fund
Proposed 2022 - 348 FTEs          2021 - 350 FTEs

Highlights of Presentation by Clerk Yarborough
Elections

• Election equipment and the voter registration process have been upgraded and modernized.
• Money is included in the budget to continue with this process in particular to deal with the increase in mail-in ballots.
• She hopes to acquire a new touch free e-polling system using American Rescue Plan funds.
• The office is gearing up for the challenges of the pending redistricting.

Recorder Functions

• The e-recording system is now operational for the recording of documents.  
• The 80,000 document backlog present when the Clerk took over the Recorder function has been eliminated.
• In 2020 a new cashiering system was also implemented.

Questions from Commissioners

• Comm. Daley asked about accessibility of polling sites and was assured that accessibility is not a problem for suburban polling sites. 
• By December precinct consolidation should be known once the mapping has been done using new census data. The need for adding any additional languages based on census numbers is yet to be determined. 

Clerk of Circuit Court of Cook County - Presented by Iris Martinez and Staff
Proposed 2022 Budget - $125,285,335                   2021 Budget - $120,480,906
                   (Includes General Funds, Special Purpose Funds and Grants)
2022 budget includes $4,345,794 allocated from the American Rescue Plan SP Fund
Proposed 2022 - 1479 FTEs            2021 Budget - 1386 FTEs
2022 includes 25 FTEs under the American Rescue Plan

Highlights of Presentation by Iris Martinez

• Technology and Transparency have been her focus since she took over the office in December.
• Her office collects funds from the courts and distributes them to various entities. $2.87M has not been allocated to local governments and they hope to have them distributed by the end of 2021.
• The office had 218 vacant positions and they have been working on filling those positions.
• Changing the culture in the office is important and Shakman compliance is a focus. The office is moving towards compliance probably by the 1st quarter of 2022.
• Implementation of the Odyssey system for document storage was halted and is being implemented again after making changes. In July 2021 Domestic Violence Courts started implementation and Civil and Traffic Courts should be implemented by the end of 2021.
• A Call Center for questions about the Court System is being developed that will be able to answer questions in 200 languages. 

Questions from Commissioners

• Comm. Daley asked about filling the vacant positions since other departments have indicated difficulty in filling positions. The HR person stated that 60 new FTEs had onboarded in July and another 40 are in process. They have budgeted for an additional 138. They initiated a very aggressive outreach plan in which they posted 6 different types of positions and received 5000 applications of which 4000 could be processed. 
• Comm. Anaya asked about any concerns with the proposed 24/7 hours of operation for the  Domestic Violence Court. The Clerk’s office is working with the Chief Judge and the advocates to come up with a model that will work and they can staff. 

Board of Review - Commissioners Larry Rogers, Michael Cabonargi, and Tammy Wendt
Proposed 2022 Budget - $15,686,657                      2021 Budget - $14,072,527
2022 budget includes $1,064,256 allocated from the American Rescue Plan SP Fund
Proposed 2022 - 151 FTEs                  2021 Budget - 142 FTEs
2022 includes 9 FTEs under the American Rescue Plan

Highlights of Presentation by Larry Rogers

• The review of assessments by the Board of Review (BoR) depends on the Assessor and that office has not yet made the data available for review from the Chicago reassessments that occurred this year. 
• The BoR office had converted to an online review system in 2015 so they had no difficulty going to a total remote environment in 2021
• The defense efforts of the BoR saved all taxing bodies within Cook County from having to make refunds of $32 M, including $10.4 M just for Cook County government.
• When they get the information from the Assessor they expect to see an increase in appeals from the city and have budgeted for overtime for their staff so they can get the appeals done in a timely way.
• The office continues with its outreach efforts to make taxpayers aware of the appeal process.

After his presentation Comm. Wendt expressed her disagreement with the budget as presented and stated that she was not included in the development of the budget as the other 2 commissioners did not meet in an open meeting and she thought it was a violation of the Open Meetings Act so would not meet with them. She also expressed several other concerns with the operation of the office as well as her feeling that there was not equity in the distribution of staff among the 3 Commissioners who are separately elected and run separate offices - yet have one budget. 

Questions/Comments from the Cook County Board Commissioners

• Comm. Degnan stated she had reached out to the offices of each of the BoR Commissioners with her questions prior to this meeting but had not received response from any of them. She wanted to know why the budget for Professional Development had increased fourfold. Comm. Rogers said that more of their staff needs to be certified as Assessment Officers. She also wanted to know why there seemed to be different sets of information that are used by the Assessor’s office and the BoR. If they had the same information would that not make for fewer appeals. The standard of review is different as the BoR gets more information to determine if an adjustment is necessary. Comm. Degnan further said she also could not tell from their salary distribution chart what positions there were and she was not comfortable having to vote on their budget.
• Comm. Daley suggested that since there was disagreement among the BoR Commissioners about their budget perhaps they needed to meet with the Budget Director to come up with a budget they can agree on. He also stated that perhaps in the future each Commissioner should submit their own budget as the commissioners operate their own offices independently. 
• Comm. Anaya said her office does outreach for the BoR as do many of the other commissioners. She said they had asked before for data and it would be useful to them to know what the data on the numbers of commercial and the number of residential appeals/district as well as the % of appeals that result in a decrease in the assessment. Comm. Rogers said that was a great suggestion and they would try to include that data in their next Annual Report. 

Item of Note:

• Comm. Daley said that he was referring the video of the Board of Review portion of this meeting to both the Inspector General and the Board of Ethics because of the issues raised.  

Observer: Cynthia Schilsky    

Cook County Board Finance Committee Mid-year Budget Hearings
July 19, 2021
Presentations by Offices under the President, Public Administrator, Assessor, Secretary to the Board, and Public Defender

Highlights from the Presentations
Overview:

• 2021 Forecast for General Fund:  Project $60 M of revenues over expenses for fiscal year ending November 30, 2021.  This means that much of the $77 M from the Fund Balance (i.e., reserves) used to balance the 2021 budget will be paid back this fiscal year.
• 2022 Forecast for General Fund:  Currently projecting $80.5 M higher revenues over 2021, but also $140.8 M in higher expenses, largely due to normal yearly increases in salaries.  Thus, currently the gap is $60.3 M which the President and all the officials and departments will be working on to close by the time the proposed 2022 budget is presented to the Board in October.  The County must have a balanced budget by law.
• Health Enterprise Fund:  The Health Fund covers both the “provider side” (which includes the Counties hospitals, clinics, and other costs incurred to provide service, whether patients are able to pay or not) and the “managed care plans” which are for Medicare or Medicaid patients, County Care.
• 2021 Forecast for Health Enterprise Fund:  Project $30.6 M of revenues over expenses.  Number of County Care enrollees greatly exceeds projected numbers, which brings both higher revenues and expenses.
• 2022 Forecast for Health Enterprise Fund:  Currently projecting $381.7 M higher revenues over 2021, but also $442.8 M in higher expenses.  That results in a gap of $61.1 M that will need to be closed prior to the proposed budget being submitted in October.
• Asked how increases in the budgets over the years compare to inflation, CFO Ammar Rizki said that the increases are in line with inflation, if you take out County Care.
• Mr. Rizki also stressed that the County looks for structural solutions to cover any gaps between income and expenses, rather than one-time fixes.  In line with that, Commissioners Sims and Daley stressed that the County needs to be careful about adding more positions in light of the large influx of federal funds, but which won’t be there after the next 2 years.

Public Administrator - Lou Apostol

• The office administers estates of those who die without a will - the past year have done 720 investigations with over 320 cases ongoing
• Stated that their office continued to operate throughout pandemic and intend to continue to use Zoom in the future for their investigations
• Vivian Meyer case is coming to a close after a several year process
• No questions from the commissioners

Assessor - Fritz Kaegi

• The office has undertaken 2 big challenges this year with the City of Chicago reassessments and also moving off the main frame system into an integrated property tax system with modern technology. The Tyler Technologies is the backbone of the system and the Assessor’s office is the first phase of conversion to this system.
• Once the assessments for the City of Chicago are done Assessor Kaegi will have completed the assessments for the entire county since he came into office.
• The new system provides the tools to help with accuracy in assessments. The office has hired staff that can utilize the new tools to maximize transparency and efficiency. 
• His office has been working with the other departments that also deal with the property tax system to get the system up and running.
• Outreach from the Assessors office was managed largely through partnership with the offices of the commissioners and Assessor Kaegi thanked them for that.
• They now have a system that makes it possible to make appointments with their office online.
• He did address the issue about the accuracy of Sr. Freeze Exemptions which has been an issue in the media. He stated that the exemptions were not in conformity with the current guidelines and the office is rectifying the problematic exemptions that were granted previously. 
• In 2019 after he took over the office he requested an audit of the office that was done and presented to the Board that had 23 recommendations for improvement to the office. So far 15 have been implemented despite the interruption of the pandemic. 
• Comm. Daley asked how opening the office would be done. Kaegi said that the office is open now, appointments can be made online and there is a call center in place for questions. 
• Comm. Gainer made the point that changes in the tax structure need to be done and there is a lot of misinformation circulating about the Land Bank and the Scavenger Sale which is actually restoring property to a tax paying status. Education about the system does help people understand how economic development is helping to restore properties to the tax rolls. Kaegi responded by saying that the property tax system is complicated and very confusing for everyone and his office is committed to being transparent about the process and putting out all the data on how the taxes are determined. They want to educate the public about the system. The public knows what goes wrong and his office is trying to fix the things they can address. 
• Comm. Miller asked about the status of the state legislation that would in part require owners to provide property descriptions to assist in the assessment process. Opponents prevented this from being implemented but he said they haven’t given up yet and are hoping it may still be approved by the House in the Veto Session. It was approved by the Senate in 2019.
• Comm. Aguilar asked about fines that are assessed for erroneous exemptions that are claimed. Mr. Kaegi stated that some individuals have been back billed for what they owe. He also stated that the state tax code outlines what fines are allowed and they are trying to integrate with other systems for information so that errors will be avoided. He is also working on a process that will automatically renew exemptions so they don’t have to be claimed every year.

Secretary to the Board - Matt Deleon

• The pandemic made it necessary for the Board to use technology so they could continue to meet and operate. Microsoft Teams has been used for meetings and this required that everyone learn to use the technology. 
• Since technology will most likely be necessary for any hybrid model for future meetings it will be necessary to constantly support and maintain the technology necessary which will have budget implications.  
• There was a $15,000 investment in equipment for the board room to allow for a hybrid model for future meetings. 
• During the pandemic the President and the Board have met often with the public and this will probably need to continue.
• In order to ensure transparency in meetings and communications with the public there will need to be investments in personnel for technical support and for communications. 
• Opening the Archives Office has been in process for a year now since a manager for the office was hired. They are now getting back into a physical presence in their office and utilizing storage space for the items they have been collecting.
• Have been to Jail (Division 1 and 1A are set for demolition soon) and to Oak Forest Hospital to collect items and information for the archives.
• 2031 will be the Cook County Bicentennial Celebration and Matt is hopeful that funds will be solicited to provide private support in addition to any public funds used for the celebration.
• Comm. Anaya asked about what was learned about public testimony during the pandemic. Matt stated that none of the online platforms really lend themselves to public meetings that allow for public participation. Their office has used Teams and utilized breakout rooms to hold public speakers until they were allowed into the meeting for comments. In the future a format will be needed. Matt cautioned against only going to online testimony as there will still need to be an in person option for those who do not have internet access. 

Public Defender - Sharone Mitchell Jr.

• Budget on target for this year
• Challenges for the year were 1. Access to the criminal courts 2. Reducing the Covid 19 risks for their clients 3. Safety measures for employees 
• Continued with their goal of providing police station representation to clients
• Expanded the mental health access for clients
• Immigration unit has been launched although there are still positions to fill and still working an authorization to represent clients in immigration courts
• 13 new attorneys have been hired and there are still 42 positions within the office that need to be filled although they are not all attorney positions. 
• The office is seeking more grant money and has hired a person to work on this.
• The three primary issues going forward are 1. Caseloads continue to be too large 2. Training for all in the office 3. Technology solutions for case loads
• Comm. Daley asked about lessons from the pandemic regarding representation of clients. Mr. Mitchell said that they are still assessing how virtual hearings can be used. Also working on a court notification system to ensure that clients do not miss their court dates.
• Comm. Aguilar asked about the hiring of the immigration lawyers. Mr. Mitchell said the lawyers have not been hired and the job descriptions had to be updated and have now gone to HR. The caseworker and paralegal positions have been posted. 
• Comm. Sean Morrison asked how Covid impacted hearings. Mr. Mitchell stated that access to the courts was slower than in the past. Of the 13,000 cases at the beginning of Covid about half have been resolved. A backlog remains. The court system is beginning to move ahead now and his staff is back in the office. The Speedy Trial Statute was put on hold and will probably be reinstated soon. His office is ready to move forward now.
• Comm. Anaya requested a time frame for when the Immigration Unit will be operational. Mr. Mitchell said they are still working on a time frame. The expect to hire half of the staff this summer and by next summer (2022) they will be fully staffed and operational. Anaya also asked about technology that will be brought into the office. Response was that they are still evaluating the type of technology they need. One of their primary concerns is the retention of digital files. 
• Comm. Suffredin asked about the Speedy Trial Statute. Mr. Mitchell stated that in March 2020 the Illinois Supreme Court suspended the right to a speedy trial but the statute is expected to be reinstated on October 1. Mr. Mitchell says that the statute is the “gas” that moves the system along as it puts pressure on all to move the cases along. Comm. Suffredin said that the court system is going to need funds to ensure that they will be able to handle the cases going forward. 
• Comm. Daley asked about how long it takes to hire attorneys. Mr. Mitchell says it is a long process. The recent attorney hiring process began in January and the 13 new hires are starting in July. An additional 25 are needed. 8 attorneys have left in the last 3 months which is about the normal attrition. The office has just issued their return to work policy. 
• Comm. Sean Morrison asked if there are any areas where virtual hearings can expedite the process. Mr. Mitchell said there is a time and place for virtual meetings/hearings and this will need to be established. Some hearings need to be in person but what is the balance. Comm. Morrison stated that the issue needs to be discussed with your colleagues so the criminal justice process can be “reimagined”.

Observers - Pris Mims and Cynthia Schilsky

Cook County Board and Committee Meetings
March 17 and 18, 2021

The Board approved:

• The appointment of Sharonne Mitchell, Jr. to a 6-year term (April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2027) as the Cook County Public Defender.  At the Legislation & Intergovernmental Relations Committee meeting on March 17, there were several public comments in support, including one from the president of the union representing the assistant public defenders, saying that the union believes Mr. Mitchell appreciates the role of collective bargaining and the key issues of the union, including having a workplace free of harassment, management support, workload issues (can’t take on other functions), fairness in promotion, and the morale of the office.  The Commissioners thanked outgoing Public Defender Amy Campanelli for her hard work and passion in representing her clients.  Agenda Item 21-2052
• An extension of the proclamation of disaster in Cook County through April 30, 2021.  This continues providing the President with additional authority to take action without prior Board approval.  Commissioners Bridget Degnen and Sean Morrison voted “no.”  Commissioner Degnen explained that she believes that the Board should have more say in directing the funds, though agrees with Commissioner John Daley’s statement that the Bureau of Finance has done an excellent job of keeping the Commissioners informed and answering questions. Agenda Item 21-2068.
• A resolution authorizing the publication of the plain language summary of the Residential Tenant Landlord Ordinance that had been recommended by the Zoning & Building Committee. Agenda  Item 21-1848.

The Board referred to the Redistricting Committee:

• Contract with Peter A. Creticos, LTD for remapping and redistricting services (Agenda Item 21-1963) and contract with Election Data Services for redistricting software and support services (Agenda Item 21-1967).  Commissioner Deborah Sims, the chair of the Committee, said that now the Committee members (all Commissioners) can begin the conversation on redistricting.

Other:

• People wishing to make public comments now have the option to present verbally at the meeting, in addition to providing comments in writing, which the Secretary of the Board has been summarizing, and which are posted on the “meeting details” page for the meeting entry on the Legistar system.
• A number of Commissioners joined the meeting of the Business & Economic Development Committee to hear the presentation from the Bureau of Economic Development for its “Cook County COVID Community Recovery Initiative Impact Report” from March 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020.  Bureau Chief Xochitl Flores described the use of the $77M CARES Act fund to aide critical social services, small businesses, workforce development, and mortgage & rental assistance.  (Agenda Item 21-1367).  The County partnered with a number of agencies, private foundations, and associations to provide services, loans, and grants.  Commissioner Ana Anaya commented that the Bureau has created a new infrastructure for long-term change.  
• The Comptroller reported to the Finance Committee that for the first 2 months of the new fiscal year, the General Fund has a positive balance of $89M (with revenues above and expenses below budget) and the Health Fund has a negative balance of $127M (with revenues down, but which have since been collected, and expenses above budget). (Agenda Item 21-1991)

Priscilla Mims - Observer