Cook County Budget Hearings Continue

Cook County Board Finance Committee - Departmental Budget Hearings
October 24, 2018

Cook County Assessor
​Cook County Treasurer
Chicago Board of Elections
Clerk of the Circuit Court
Office of the Secretary to the Board

There were 10 Cook County Commissioners present.

Cook County Assessor: Joseph Berrios                            
Budget Highlights:

• The department’s proposed budget of 25.4 million is within the county target
• Planned technological enhancements will allow this office to operate more efficiently. 
• Develop and implement Property Tax system with other county agencies for full launch expected in 2020.
• Fraud unit is working well to make sure people are not defrauding the system. Approximately $35 Million have been collected.
• Working to create new tools and policies that will aid in the development of more affordable housing countywide.

Comments:
The Commissioners thanked Assessor Berrios for his serve.

Cook County Treasurer: Maria Pappas
Budget Highlights:

• FY2019 will be the 18th consecutive year that the Treasurer’s Office has reduced its budget above and beyond the budgetary targets requested.
• Very proud of the fact that all of the IT services are done in house. 
• Technological improvements have reduced costs, and improved services
• Treasurers collect $14 billion each year in taxes from owners of more than 1.8 million parcels of property.

Comments:
Maria Pappas, commented that tax bills are being sent out in a timely matter and more and more people are accessing their bills and paying their bills online. March Bills will be online in December. This has saved the county money. Commissioners pointed out that all of the IT work is done in house and this has saved the County money. They also noted that the Cook County Treasurer’s Website is very user friendly.

Chicago Board of Election: Lance Gough, Executive Director
Budget Highlights:

• In 2019, key operations of the Board of elections will involve managing the municipal elections and runoffs in February and April.
• The City of Chicago will bear the full costs of the 2019 Municipal Elections

Comments:
Board of Elections is continuing to grow online registrations. There has been an increase of early voting in the city and a growing participation in Vote by Mail. Commissioners asked whether new voting machines would be ready for the February and April elections. Mr. Gough responded that they will not be ready and the City of Chicago will be using the same equipment that is being used for the November 2018 Election. New equipment will be ready for the 2020 Presidential Election. He is confident that the new equipment will be secure. There was also discussion concerning the lack of polling places and judges in the City. Chicago is moving towards Voting Centers. Condominiums and schools do not want to open their spaces for voting. He said that the Super Site on West Washington is working well.

Clerk of the Circuit Court -  Dorothy Brown
Budget Highlights:

• Removal of furlough days
• There has been a reduction in staff
• Implementation of the required eFilelL system, has caused significant difficulties for the Clerks’ office. This is due to the complexity of the system along with the volume of cases filed in Cook County.
• Case Management System (CMS) will serve all areas of law to advance technology and improve efficiency while reducing costs, improve efficiency of court operations, improve customer service, and enhance information access offered to the public.  Criminal division will go live by March 2019, and all other areas of law will go live by November 2019.

Comments:
Dorothy Brown commented that as of July 2018, e-Filing has become mandatory for all civil areas of law. This system has caused difficulties for the Clerk’s office as the staff has had to provide extra-specialized customer service assistants to both self-represented litigants and attorneys, in order for them to e-File successfully. The challenge is not having enough employees to help. The Commissioners suggested that perhaps they might need to charge for providing help. They also suggested that a printed quick reference card or TV presentation with directions as to how to use the system could be implemented. It was noted that this system was created first for smaller counties, and then implemented for use in Cook County. Dorothy Brown would like to hire more people but cannot until they meet the budget requirement concerning the furlough days. 

Office of the Secretary to the Board - Matthew De Leon
Budget Highlights:

• Full time employees will remain the same for FY2019

Matthew De Leon reported on the Highlights of last year some of which are as follows:

• Redesigned Secretary to the Board website to improve access to information.
• Completed media inventory of 35-year collection of audio and video recordings transferred from Department of Facilities Management.
• Replaced the 50 year old sound system
• Created virtual record of paper documents for all 2016 and 2017 County and Forest Preserve Board meetings.
• Goal for the Archives Advisory Committee
• Began process for County 2031: Cook County’s: Bicentennial Celebration.

Matthew De Leon presented a power point presentation of some of the old archive materials for the Bicentennial Celebration in 2031. You can go to Legistar to see this presentation.

​Commissioners had suggestions for the Board meetings and the boardroom

• During the meetings, the President or person leading the meeting should announce not only the item number but the page it is on, for example when referring to an item, such as item 18-111, you include that this item is on page 10 of the agenda. This will be helpful for commissioners that leave the room or  for an audience member that arrives after the Board meeting has started.   
• ADA compliance needs to be done
• Railing on stairs down to where the Commissioners sit
• Clock with a timer

Matthew De Leon stated that some of these request would be handled at the Capital Budget Hearing on Friday October 26.

Observer: Nancy Marcus (11:00-2:00 with an hour break for lunch)