Third and Final Day of 2024 Budget Meetings with Departments

Cook County Board Finance Committee meetings with:

• Cook County State’s Attorney
• Cook County Board of Review
• Cook County Treasurer
• Chicago Board of Elections
• Cook County Land Bank
• Cook County Veterans Commission

October 26, 2023

Cook County State’s Attorney (Kimberly Foxx)
Proposed 2024 Expenditures:    $292.7 M    2023:  $195.1 M
   General Funds:                                          $132.9 M    2023:  $127.8 M
   Special Purpose Funds:                          $  26.1 M    2023:  $  23.2 M
   Restricted (Grants):                                  $  43.8 M    2023:  $  44.2 M
2024 Total FTEs:                             1,441.0    2023:  1,470.0
   General Funds:                                             1,244.2    2023:  1,244.0
   Special Purpose Funds:                                 39.0    2023:       43.0
   Restricted (Grants):                                         157.8    2023:     183.6

Following are some key items from this meeting:

• State’s Attorney (“SA”) Foxx reported on the experience since “no cash bail” was implemented in September:  650 requests for detention have been requested and 60% have been granted by judges at detention hearings (mainly for charged crimes of domestic battery, murder, attempted murder, and vehicular hijacking); and the jail population for those charged with non-violent crimes has been reduced by 20%.
• While SA Foxx would welcome more attorney positions, she stressed what would be more useful are more support staff – The standard would be twice the number of attorneys, but rather than having the 1600 support positions that the standard calls for, under the 2024 budget, there will be 350 (up from 300 in 2023).  She said that attorneys are spending time doing tasks that support staff would do – including making copies.  Thus, adding more support staff would increase the productivity of the attorneys and help with retention.
• SA Foxx also reported that 240 wrongful convictions have been vacated.

Cook County Board of Review (George A. Cardenas, Samantha Steele, Larry R. Rogers, Jr.)
Proposed 2024 Expenditures:    $20.1 M    2023:  $18.0 M
   General Funds:                                        $19.6 M     2023:  $18.0 M
   Special Purpose Funds:                       $  0.5 M     2023:  $  0 
2024 Total FTEs:                              163      2023:  157
   General Funds:                                            163        2023:  157

Following are some key items from this meeting:

• Looking at the numbers above, the Board of Review (“BOR”) has 6 new positions, but it was said that there are 8 new FTEs:  6 analysts (split between District 1 and 2 Commissioners, who have fewer analysts than District 3) and 2 tech people.  The BOR wanted 38 new positions.  Currently, the BOR is requesting that the budget be amended to add 5 more:  3 analysts to deal with appeals at the Property Tax Appeals Board (where all the governments which receive property tax funds have exposure of up to $500 M should those appeals be granted), plus a Director of Communications and a Manager of Operations & Purchases.  The BOR is also seeking $100,000 more for non-personnel expenses.  The BOR said that the standard is to have 1 analyst per 2,000 parcels; at the BOR there are 38-40 analysts working 400,000 parcels.
• Comm Degnen said that the rate of appeals from assessments is 5% nationally, but Cook County is an outlier with 30% of the initial assessments appealed.  BOR Comm. Steele said that for many years people in Cook County have been told they should appeal and changing that culture is difficult.  Appeals can be done at the Assessor level first, and then at the BOR.  In response to a question from Comm. Anaya, 44% of the residential appeals at the BOR resulted in reductions totaling $468 M, and 30% of the commercial appeals totaling $5.6 B.  
• Comm. Degnen also raised the issue that the Assessor and BOR use different criteria for assessing commercial properties.  Comm. Steele said that the Assessor looks at the value should the property be sold, while the BOR also looks at the actual expenses and vacancies at those properties, which means the BOR uses a “loaded CAP rate” that the Assessor does not.  That is one of the issues being discussed by President Preckwinkle’s task force on the property tax system.
• Comm. Steele said that the District 2 analysts are using a program to do an initial review that is currently not being used by the other two districts.  District 2 also has implemented standardized procedures for analyzing appeals.  Comm. Britton encouraged all to take as much subjectivity out of the appeals process as possible.  
• Comm. Degnen called on the BOR to present separate budgets in the future:  one for each district plus a 4th one to cover costs that pertain to the BOR as a whole.  This would be similar to what the County Board has, with separate budgets for each Commissioner.

Cook County Treasurer (Maria Pappas)
Proposed 2024 Expenditures:    $15.5 M    2023:  $13.5 M
   General Funds:                                      $   0.7 M    2023:  $  0.7 M
   Special Purpose Funds:                        $14.8 M    2023:  $12.8 M
2024 Total FTEs:                            76.0       2023:  75.5
  General Funds:                                            6.0        2023:    7.0
  Special Purpose Funds:                         70.0        2023:  68.5

Following are some key items from the meeting:

• Treasurer Pappas said that in 1988, office had 250 employees and if same number today, budget would have been $59.6 M.  Instead, today have 59 filled positions and budget is $15.5 M, with 95% of that funded by commercial user fees (in the Special Purpose Funds). 
• Web site getting 5.7 M page visits through Oct. 1 of this year.  Can see from the site that there are $84 M of duplicate and overpayment refunds that taxpayers can apply for online.  Also, about 30,000 seniors could save $34 M if apply for exemptions, which can be done through a link on web page.  Web site can be used through 133 different languages. www.cookcountytreasurer.com. 
• Treasurer Pappas says she led reforms that slashes interest rates on late property tax payments from 18% to 9% per year; that closes loopholes that have allowed tax buyers to reduce governments tax receipts by $40 M each year; and that provides new tools to get chronically tax delinquent properties to new entities so the properties may be more quickly put back to use.
• Treasurer Pappas also touted the studies that have been done by her staff, as well as the new Artificial Intelligence group that she is in the process of creating.  She has tasked the AI group to enhance the phone system for use in 120 languages to obtain tax history of properties for 20 years. 

Chicago Board of Elections (“BOE”) (Charles Holiday, Jr., Executive Director)
Proposed 2024 Expenditures:    $26.4 M    2023:  $ 1.7 M  (all Election Fund)
2024 Total FTEs:                              4.0        2023:  4.0
   
Note:  The Chicago Board of Elections runs elections in the City of Chicago, while the Cook County Clerk is responsible for elections in suburban Cook County.  A portion of the funding for the Board of Elections is paid for by the City of Chicago, including the cost of all but 4 of the employees of the Board.  Cook County pays the costs of the 3 Election Board Commissioners and the Executive Director each year.  A much greater amount is allocated by Cook County to the Board of Elections during even years to cover a little less than half of the costs of the Primary and General elections. The proposed 2024 budget at the City for the Board is an additional $34.5 M.

• BOE has purchased new e-poll books for the 2024 elections to check voters in.  BOE is working on recruiting and training election workers, and making plans to handle the expected increase in voters utilizing early voting and vote-by-mail options.  Currently, there are 130,000 signed up for the permanent vote-by-mail registry, and many more are expected to sign up in 2024.
• Comm. Britton asked if BOE and County Clerk have come up with a single web page location where voters could go to see combined totals for both Chicago and Suburban Cook where districts overlap.  The answer is no, not yet. 
• Comm. Degnen said that the early voting site in her district had long lines the last few days of Early Voting and asked if more sites could be added so people would not be discouraged from voting.  Mr. Holiday said that would entail additional money, which the City Council was not willing to provide.  However, he stressed that people can go to any Early Voting site to vote.  

Land Bank Authority (Jessica Caffrey)
Proposed 2024 Expenditures:    $  7.0 M   2023:  $5.4 M
   Special Purpose Funds:                         $  6.3 M    2023:  $5.0 M
   Restricted (Grants)                                  $  0.7 M    2023:  $0.4 M
2024 Total FTEs:                               18       2023:  15
   Special Purpose Funds:                               18        2023:      15

Following are some key items from this meeting:

• Ms. Caffrey said that this agency is the largest of this type in the country based on geography.  Over the last 10 years, 1,700 vacant properties have been put back on tax rolls, $20.8 M unpaid taxes have been recovered, and $186 M have been added to community wealth – looking at the value when the properties were sold to the Land Bank vs. the value when the Land Bank sold.
• The goals are to (1) grow home ownership, (2) build community wealth, (3) acquire vacant properties, and (4) reduce its “aged” inventory (held more than 2 years) by 15%.  Said that 2023 was the first year that more properties were sold (594) than acquired (441).

Veterans Assistance Commission (Agency Head, Maj. Deanna Love, USA, ret.)
Proposed 2024 Expenditures:  $1.14 M  (all General Funds)
2024 Total FTEs:  11.0
This Commission was reorganized as a result of a new state law and related County ordinance, which is why no information for 2023 is provided.

• Said proposed budget will allow staff to increase from current 4 positions to 11.  Budget also provides money to increase space for this staff to provide service to veterans. Plan to introduce new services to veterans, which will also lead to economic benefits to Cook County as a whole.
• In response to questions from Comm. Lowry and Anaya, said that services are provided for those on a needs-tested basis; incomes must be less than 300% of the poverty level; and must re-apply and qualify each year.
• Commission originally requested 16 more FTEs, with 8 of those dedicated to assisting veterans in applying for Federal assistance. 

Observer:  Priscilla Mims