Committee Meetings of Cook County Board

Cook County Board of Commissioners Committee Meetings  
Nov. 18 & 19, 2025

Criminal Justice Committee
November 19, 2025

​Commissioners Approve Chicago-Cook County Violence Against Women Task Force

• With the Chicago City Council approving a companion resolution last week, the Committee voted to approve the creation of a Chicago-Cook County Violence against Women Task Force. (item 25-4095)
• The Taks Force is charged with providing recommendations to the City and County by July 1, 2026 for addressing domestic violence, which has had a huge surge in reported incidents over the past several years.
• Besides representatives from the County’s criminal justice officials, Commissioners Miller, Anaya, Degnen, and Gainer were appointed to the Task Force from the County’s side. Comm. Miller was the lead sponsor, and she said that this Task Force is an outgrowth of this Committee’s hearing last July during which many problems with the current government systems were identified.  

Observer:  Priscilla Mims

Finance Committee
November 19, 2025

Finance Approves Up to $10.53 M to House Those on Electronic Monitoring with No Place to Go
The Committee voted to approve

• 5 items from the Justice Advisory Commission to provide housing and some additional services for those ordered to pretrial detention on electronic monitoring at fees ranging from $136 to $200 per night.  County only pays per night fees when people are actually housed. Placements at the different facilities are offered to those who have no place to stay.  (items 25-3544, -3545, -3546, -3547, and -3548)
• Grants totaling $2.3 M (with $100,000 remaining to provide additional support) to 5 community financial institutions to assist them in doing small business lending.  Funding for this program is from the Equity Fund.  In response to questions from Comm. Anaya, the 5 institutions were selected by an external panel of experts from a group of 10 after a Request for Qualification (RFQ) process resulted in 15 responses, of which 10 were found by the Bureau of Economic Development to have met the requirements.  Comm. Anaya asked that in the future, Commissioners be notified of similar RFQs.  (item 25-3953)

The Comptroller reported that through Sept. 30 

• The County’s General Fund has a net favorable balance of $123 M and, on a cash basis, the Health Enterprise Fund has an unfavorable balance of $33.7 M.  The State of Illinois owes the County $98 M, but that amount is trending downward.  
• In response to a question from Comm. Sean Morrison, CFO Tanya Anthony said that there has been $1.2M in reduced Federal funding to date.  Comm. Morrison and Chair Daley asked that future monthly reports identify any loss of Federal funding. 

Observer:  Priscilla Mims

Legislative and Intergovernmental Relations Committee
November 19, 2025

Committee Extends Incentives for Landmark Buildings
Two ordinances dealing with the extension of tax incentives for certain classifications of property were approved by the Committee.

• The first ordinance amendment was an extension of classification incentives that were due to expire at the end of this year and extends the time frame until 2027. (Agenda Item 25-4178)
• The second amendment was for incentive renewal of Class L buildings. A representative from the Assessor’s office stated that this will allow for buildings with landmark status to continue to receive the incentive if certain parameters are met and municipalities agree with the extension of the incentive. (Agenda Item 25-4220)
• During public comment Ward Miller from Preservation Chicago and Kendra Parsons from Landmarks Illinois both spoke in support of renewing the incentives as they were important for restoration of landmark buildings. A representative from a Cultural Arts Center in Oak Park also spoke about how important an incentive was for allowing renovation of their landmark building so they now are able to provide free meeting space to the community. 
• Comm. Sean Morrison asked how long an exemption would be granted if renewed and the Assessor’s representative stated it would be for the same term as the original exemption was granted - mostly that is 12 years. He then stated that while he does support incentives as they are important for economic development he does caution that incentives should not be long term commitments. They are meant to provide owners a tax break to allow them to invest in properties so that they become economically viable and when they are they should no longer need the tax break.

Observer - Cynthia Schilsky

Asset Management Committee  
November 18, 2025

Commissioners Approve Purchase of 2 Buildings

• James Essex, Director of Real Estate Management, presented two proposals to buy buildings in which Cook County is leasing a major portion.   The department did the calculations on the cost of purchasing versus long term rental and determined these purchases will save the County money.
• The Commissioners approved both purchases.   The first was a building in Maywood currently occupied by the Sheriff and the Clerk of the Court (Item 25-4100).  The second was in Arlington Heights, currently occupied by County Health Services (Item 23-4101).

Observer:  Kathi Graffam

Audit Committee    
November 19, 2025

Audit Finds Compliance with ARPA Requirements

• Heath Wolfe, County Auditor, presented a report of a review the Audit Department did on an ARPA project. The Rain Ready Plan is implementing green infrastructure projects to control rainwater in flood prone areas.   Mr. Wolfe explained that these reviews of ARPA projects are not audits; but to check that the projects are in compliance with ARPA requirements, and to suggest any needed management corrections.  They found that the monitoring process was adequate and the funds were being used as intended. (Item 25-4148).

Observer:  Kathi Graffam