Cook County Board Finance Committee Meeting
May 11, 2022

The Commissioners agreed to consider a Substitute to replace the original version of a proposed ordinance to increase the salaries of all County elected officials.  However, the Commissioners further agreed to delay voting on the merits of the Substitute to a meeting of the Committee to be held later this month.  The League of Women Voters of Cook County, both in written and verbal testimony at this meeting had urged this delay in order to provide the public more time to review and provide input on this proposal.  (Item 22-2825)

Under the Substitute

• As set forth in a chart, the salaries of all County Elected Officials will be raised by 10% as of Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 which begins in December 2022 when the new terms begin (December 2024 for the Clerk of the Court).  After the initial year, the salaries will be further adjusted by the lesser of 3% or the change in the Chicago Consumer Price Index for FY 2024, 2025 and 2026.  Such salaries have not been raised in 20 years.  The League supports these increases.
• The Substitute also provides that such yearly adjustments shall continue after FY 2026 until and unless there is a vote by the Board to eliminate or amend such increases.  The League urged the deletion of this provision stating that there should be a review and a vote for any further increases.

Also at this meeting

• Commissioner Anaya questioned the amount the County is to pay to the Court-Appointed Administrator for the Shakman case in the Assessor’s office.  Comm. Anaya noted that the amount is much higher than in the past, which surprised her as she understands that the oversight is nearing its end.  The representative from the State’s Attorney said that that office has questioned the Court-Appointed Administrator, who said that there was additional work involved to finish the case.  Comm. Silvestri suggested that the detailed bills could come before the Litigation Subcommittee for further discussion.

Observer:  Priscilla Mims

Cook County Board of Commissioners Committee Meetings 
February 24, 2021

Cook County Health and Hospital  Committee 

• In a public hearing, CEO Israel Rocha, of Cook County Health and Hospital System, and Dr. Rachel Ruben, of the Cook County Department of Public Health, gave updates on the COVID vaccine program.  Information included website improvements for scheduling vaccines, locations to get vaccinated, the distribution of vaccine system, and current numbers of those vaccinated in Cook County.  There are 11 large and 145 small vaccine locations in Cook County.  These include major sites in Tinley Park, Triton College and newly opened New Trier High School.  There is also a partnership with Walgreens, Osco Drug, and Mariano’s Grocery pharmacy.  The call center receives about 12,000 calls per day.  In the last month about 105,000 residents have been vaccinated with at least one dose.
• Cook County Commissioners’ questions and concerns were addressed. Regarding Chicago residents using Cook County locations:  this is a reciprocal arrangement designed to quickly vaccinate as many people as possible; about 30% of Chicagoans and 30% of suburban residents have been vaccinated by the other entity.
• Numerous  programs and outreach have been developed to encourage minorities and other hesitant residents to take the vaccine.  About half of these communities are not inclined to be vaccinated.  There is no charge to anyone for vaccines and tests, but insurance companies may be charged an administration fee.  Group 1c (those 16-64 years of age with co-morbidities) will likely be added mid-to late March in Cook County.
• In other business, the committee passed a Resolution to Assess Needs and Improve the Quality and Effectiveness of Behavioral Health Care Provided by Cook County Government (21-1189).  A 2015 study found that behavioral health visits to emergency departments (ED) in Illinois are the largest growth category of ED visits.

Finance Committee Meeting--

• Cook County CFO Amar Rizki gave an overview of the property tax levy levied by Cook County government.  The base levy has not changed since 1994 ($720,000,000).  That and other revenue sources make a total of $784,214,215 for the 2021 budget.  Because of the tough budget year (COVID and business closures), two of seven categories will not be funded this year—Corporate and Capital.

Finance Subcommittee on Litigation 

• Regarding the Inspector General’s recommendations for the Board of Review:  the issues related to Shakman-type practices have not been resolved by the Board of Review.  There will be a special meeting next week to discuss these problems.  It is not known if this will be a public meeting.

Observer -  Karin Hribar

Cook County Board Finance Subcommittee on Litigation
February 25, 2020

The Court-Appointed Compliance Administrators and representatives from the 3 offices under court supervision pursuant to the Shakman settlements updated the Litigation Subcommittee on Feb. 25.  The 3 offices are the Recorder of Deeds, the Assessor, and the Clerk of the Court.

• Shakman provides that, with just a few exceptions, decisions regarding hiring, firing, promotion, and salaries are to be made free of political considerations.  The Recorder’s office has been under court supervision since 2010, the Assessor’s office since 2012, and the Clerk of the Court’s office since August 2018.  The Litigation Subcommittee began asking for quarterly updates with the goal of encouraging faster compliance, as recommended by the League.
• The Recorder’s office has some serious challenges to coming into substantial compliance by December 2020 due to loss of most of the staff in the Human Resources area, as well as other issues.  Commissioner Degnen urged the Recorder to talk to the Clerk about that office providing help with Human Resources since the two offices are to merge in December.  The Court-Appointed Administrator does not know what impact the case may have on the Clerk’s office (not currently under court-supervision) once the merger occurs.
• While progress has been made in the Assessor’s office, and no new complaints have been filed since the current Assessor took over at the end of 2016, it is likely that substantial compliance will not be reached this year because performance evaluations will not be able to be conducted before the end of this year/early next year.  The Assessor’s representative explained that the Assessor needs to complete the property assessments by the end of November, and so it would be difficult to start the evaluations before then.
• The Clerk of the Court is making good progress, but is still in the early stages and has much to do before that office can be found in substantial compliance.

Priscilla Mims - Observer

Cook County Board of Commissioners Committee Meetings 
Nov 20, 2019

Highlights from the meetings:

Finance Committee
Commissioner Silvestri stated that at the Litigation Subcommittee meeting on Nov 19, the compliance administrators gave a positive report that the Assessor's office is moving quickly, the Clerk of the Court's pace has picked up and the Recorder of Deeds is at a good point in achieving compliance with the Shakman decrees.  The next status update to the Litigation Subcommittee will be Feb 2020.  It was hoped compliance would be achieved for the Recorder of Deeds before its merger with the Clerk's office, Dec 1, 2020.

Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee
Representatives from the Recorder of Deeds and Clerk's office presented a status update on their merger (agenda item 19-6178).  Agreements have been made between the two regarding open dialog/communications and information sharing.  Work groups have been established.  Areas of early consolidation discussed were procurement and financial (merging bank accounts). Commissioner Suffredin suggested that the Recorder of Deeds and Clerk meet with the League of Women Voters as he said this outside group has continued to send questions regarding the merger process and were involved in the Nov 2016 referendum.

Rules and Administration Committee
The Just Housing Amendment, that Cook County's housing providers do not discriminate against individuals with a criminal history/convictions when they apply for housing, was passed spring 2019 by the Cook County Board of Commissioners.  Interpretive rules for this Just Housing Amendment have been worked out over the past months.  The Proposed Second Substitute to agenda item # 19-4770 on file (regarding the Just Housing Amendment Interpretive Rules) was adopted.  The motion to receive and file the adopted Proposed Second Substitute 19-4770 was passed which sends the rules to the full Cook County board of Commissioners for final approval.  There were many groups at the committee meeting presenting views on affordable and fair housing, criminal justice, disabilities and racial discrimination since historically individuals with a criminal history/convictions have a history of not obtaining safe and stable housing.

Observed by Michele Niccolai