Mid-Year Budget Hearings

Cook County Board Finance Committee
Mid-Year Budget Review Meetings on July 25, 2023

Budget Overview

• Revenue will decline next fiscal year because the State has changed the statutes on sharing the Personal Property Tax (part of the corporate income tax) and Cook County will see a change from $133M this year to $75M next year.
• Sales tax will remain level
• Income from County Care at CCH will decline because participants have to go through Medicaid redetermination post Covid and it is projected there will be less members.
• Labor costs will increase $27M  and IT costs will increase $20M next year.

Cook County Health (CCH)

• FY 24 will have a shortfall of $3M due to the redetermination and increased labor costs. The union agreements included retroactive COLAs.
• Asylum seekers medical costs have been $26M this year.
• CCH has managed $265M of ARPA funds in 70 programs.  They provide monthly reports on the programs to the Board.  There is a sustainable working groups looking at how to continue the programs after 2026 and the end of ARPA funds.

Office of the President

• Cook County reporting of ARPA funds is good according to Results for America.
• $281M of medical debt of individuals has been paid by Cook County.
• $110M has been spent for reducing gun violence.  Cook County is working with the City and the State on this issue.
• Technical help has been provided to 13,000 small businesses.
• Commissioner Sean Morrison asked for more detailed reporting on the medical debt elimination—how are recipients chosen, which hospitals and locales.
• Commissioner Gainer asked if HR hiring process is improving.  Ms. Turner said that was being reported in the Performance Management website.

Chief Judge - Tim Evans

• The court system now has a permanent hybrid process.
• The courts will need more employees to support the Safe-T act for night and weekend shifts.
• Judge Evans explained the operation of the restorative justice program and its success in decreased recidivism of its participants compared to people who go through the regular court system.
• Commissioner Gainer asked for more reporting on the residents in the Juvenile Detention Center, particularly in education.   There have been reports that special needs students are not being accommodated.

Sheriff - Tom Dart

• The jail will be within budget for FY 2023.
• Sheriff Dart explained why there was a need for a new helicopter, particularly for use in carjackings.
• The sheriff office provides back up for many suburban police departments. They are the only police in Ford Heights, Dalton, and Harvey.
• The office implemented a mental health incident support program.   Responders are trained on de-escalation procedures and provided a tablet that they can use when dealing with a mental health crisis.   The tablet connects them with a mental health expert to help them deal with the issue.  This has been implemented with 15 communities.

​Observer:  Kathleen Graffam