Cook County Budget Hearings Continue for Second Day

Cook County Board Finance Committee - July 24, 2018
Midyear Budget Hearing - Day 2 - afternoon session

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas had the shortest meeting of all:  

• She announced she was $20,000 under budget, asked for questions, and hearing none, thanked everyone, and left.

Cook County Inspector General's Office:

• The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) is looking into using the Cook County Inspector General’s office for its Inspector General (IG) needs.  MWRD allotted $600,000 for its IG needs.
• Comm. Suffredin asked if it might be possible to bill themselves out to other agencies or governments for Cook County revenue generation. 
• They will be within their budget.

Recorder of Deeds, Karen Yarborough, presented her budget at 2pm. 

• She touted her reduction in employees from 200 to 125 over her tenure, and that she had instituted a Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) monitoring system. 
• Her office is in “substantial Shakman compliance” (but still being overseen).
• Commissioner Sims commiserated with Recorder Yarborough about how difficult it is going to be to combine the County Clerk's Office with that of the Recorder of Deeds office.  Yarborough agreed about how it would cost lots more money to combine (no firm estimate).  She said the big problem was that their cashiering functions used entirely different systems.
• Suffredin suggested she try to monetize free services the Recorder of Deeds now offers, like fraud alert of “transfer at death” services, just as the Board of Review has instituted a bulk filing fee.
• Most of the commissioners spent considerable time lavishing praise on Recorder Yarborough for her distinguished service.

Clerk of the Circuit Court, Dorothy Brown, relied most of the time on the comptroller to discuss the details of her budget and whether she would be within it. 

• She will meet her budget mostly due to furlough days. 
• She complained about how many more man-hours were required under the e-filing system.  She said she has had to pull employees from Traffic and Criminal areas to help pro se citizens file their suits in the Civil division.  Commissioner Sims offered helpful advice like “closed circuit TV”.  Brown said she needed to have screen shots blown up as posters. (Public education should have been part of the rollout.)
• Most commissioners sympathized with her for her dedicated employees having to take furlough days and pay cuts.  When Com. Tobolski asked if she could stay within her budget for next year, she said she needed more people.  He asked if she would be willing to go to the voters to talk about her need for more money in the Circuit Court.  No specific numbers were discussed.  
• Com. Boykin said she had done a lot with a little.

Chief Judge Tim Evans is running at 2% over budget. 

• He took credit for reducing the jail population from 10,000 to 6,131 which has helped reduce overtime needs (in the Sheriff’s budget). 
• Judge Evans will reduce his budget by closing two courts at Wentworth and 51st and Belmont and Western by September 1.  Cases will be moved from Belmont and Western to Grand and Central for the most part.  Wentworth and 51st cases will probably move to California and 26th.  He will try to reach a  5.1% reduction for 2019 by further closing Walnut and moving those employees to California and 26th.
• Probation officers handle on average 75 cases per person.  Similar officers in Washington DC have 25 cases per person.  Electronic monitoring and GPS monitoring for protective orders must also be assigned to a probation officer.
• With the new public assessment tool, 90% of defendants are showing up for their court dates.
• Two pods at the Juvenile Detention Center have been closed since the population is down with a 22 person decrease  in headcount, but have had to fill in with overtime due to FMLA.

Budget hearings were adjourned at 4pm.  Commissioners Garcia, Sims, Daley, Silvestri, Tobolski, Deer, Boykin, Moore, Moody, and Suffredin were present for most of the budget hearings.

Observer - Amy Little