Proposed Capital Budget Presented at Cook County Budget Hearings

Cook County Board Finance Committee  - Departmental Budget Hearings 
Fourth Day of Budget Hearings - October 20, 2016

Capital Budget - Presented by CFO Samstein
Key Information Presented:

• A new practice at Cook County:  Financing of capital projects now has to match the life of the asset!  This has been the practice for years in private business, but only recently is it the rule at Cook County.  In fact, many IT investments are being pushed to the Operating Budget since the life cycle of so much software is short-lived.
• For many years the county had financed now antiquated computer systems with long term debt so that the County will not pay off these systems until 2032 in the worst case.  The County has $3.4 Billion in total debt ($500 Million was from bonding for self-insurance, a practice that is likewise not done in business, and the county has stopped doing this as well.)  Debt repayment is not included in the Capital Expenditure budget.
• Good news:  there is a central “bank” responsible now for managing all of Cook County’s diverse assets, including real estate, facilities, and computer systems.  The Capital Equipment request for FY2017 is $84 Million, of which $65 Million is for technology catch-up.  This includes the integrated property tax system, the continued implementation of the biometric timecard system (which all parts of Cook County government will use except for the Board of Review and the Assessor’s office because they already had a similar system in place).  The county provides a central clearing house for even office furniture and security cameras so there is less money spent on redundant systems that exist elsewhere in Cook County facilities.
• Other capital expenditures include demolition of certain assets, including Department of Corrections Division 1, 1A, 3, and 17.  Security systems and furniture will be recycled to other offices of Cook County.

Questions/Comments from Commissioners:

• Commissioner Gainer does not like the expensive NORESCO contract for energy efficiency, to be completed in 2016 at Corporate.  She complained it basically paid an outside contractor to swap light bulbs, something that Cook County workers could have done themselves.
• Commissioner Schneider asked Director Samstein his opinion of the “lockbox” law that Illinois will be considering.  Samstein believes that it will cause lawsuits and many extra non-productive manhours.

The Cook County Building and Zoning Department and Board of Appeals office have the goal of improving blighted properties in unincorporated Cook County so that local municipalities will be more likely to annex those properties after they are improved.

Land Bank Authority

• Charged with reducing vacant land and returning buildings back to the tax rolls.
• Commissioner Gainer spearheads this effort. Gainer said that the Land Bank is meant to consolidate lands with delinquent taxes, clear up legal issues, then bundle that land and sell it to the highest market bidder who eventually will develop and pay property taxes.
• Although commissioners in the more blighted areas of Chicago and South Cook complained about not being informed, Robert Rose, the Director, said that in no instance was the Land Bank competing with the private sector or “stealing” people’s property.    
• Not one dollar of Cook County money is spent on the Land Bank.  It is financed from grant monies and sale of properties. 
• It is the largest land bank in the country.

Bureau of Asset Management:

• Manages 19 million square feet of space in Cook County. 
• The next year will focus on Old Cook County Hospital re-development.  The project will consist of a hotel, retail, business offices, and possibly even a museum for Cook County hospital artefacts.  Housing will be built where the current parking garage stands.  The developer now has 15 months to secure financing for the project.
• The county downsized by one floor in the Cook County building and is renting the space to IDOT.  Floor space usage should be decreased by 1 million sq. ft. in the next year. 
• The Hawthorne building will be vacated and consolidated at Rockwell, likewise the print shop in the Pedway will be moved to Rockwell.  Hawthorne will be either sold or demolished depending on market conditions, as there is a lot of deferred maintenance on the building. 
• Demolitions will occur at the department of Corrections, mentioned above, at Divisions 1, 1A, 3, and 17. 
• The bureau will also begin the Cook County Central Campus Health Center in the Stroger vicinity.  

Facilities Mangagement: presented by Bilqis Jacobs-El, Director 

• Thanked her employees in attendance.
• Since 2015 she has reduced FTEs from 541 to 516 and managed to reduce overtime by 68% from 2012 to 2016. 
• Received good government awards from NACO (national association of County govenrments) and President Prekwinkle. 
• Have developed a pre-apprenticeship program at JUVI. 
• Now have a cloud-based work order system, and have a salvage management clearing house site for office equipment.  The Chief Engineers of each facility sit in on energy efficiency planning, and are working on a water savings management plan. 
• Controls every Cook County facility except Health and Hospitals. 
• They are no longer under the Shakman decree.

Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership

• Have ten workforce centers and supplies Federal grant money to multiple secondary agencies. 
• Do not provide direct services but offer travel vouchers and oversee distribution of grant monies to the agencies. 
• Have 65 FTEs and oversee $62 Million, most of it from Federal grants. 
• Have served 5033 at risk youth at a cost of $70.17 per hour because youth require mentoring.

Overall Observation:  It was impressive to see such an abundance of young, talented managers working for Cook County government, with more than half of them young women of color.  This is a very different Cook County from ten years ago.

Observer - Amy Little