SALES TAX ISSUES:
President Stroger addressed and vetoed the second attempt by some commissioners to repeal part of the sales tax increase, which has been in effect for about a year. Some commissioners again tried to override the veto, but failed to have enough votes. Comm. Beavers, Butler, Moreno, Murphy, Sims, and Steele voted against the override. Comm. Collins voted "present"--again. Comm. Maldonado was absent. Almost all commissioners expressed dismay at the continuing vetoes and override attempts. Comm. Daley suggested a finance meeting next week (which has since been cancelled) to work out a compromise with Stroger and the Board members. He stated that sales tax revenues are down $1,000,000.00; other county income has dropped even more this year and the budget will need trimming in all elected officials' departments.
Once again commissioners expressed their viewpoints on the sales tax. Several weren't sure if there was a county sales tax on cars. Sims said to look at the retail mark-up of products and related her experience with pants being marked up 50%. Butler does not want any repeal of the sales tax because the .25% is only "a quarter of a penny and won't make any difference." It appears the Hospital Board indicated to Gorman that cuts could be made; and to Sims that no cuts could be made. Peraica pointed out that Cook County Hospitals have 9 employees per patient bed compared with 4-5 in the private sector, so positions could be cut there.
SHAKMAN DECREE:
Comm. Peraica noted that Illinois paid $500,000.00 in "corruption tax" last year, half of which is in Cook County. Collins agreed with Peraica that this patronage needs to stop. Since 2007, Cook County has paid out about $2.5 million due to the Shakman Decree -- court cases, 150 settlements to employees hurt because of patronage, and monitoring of hiring practices by the Compliance Administrator and her staff. Laura Lechowicz-Felicione of Pres. Stroger's staff reported that Cook County is heading in the right direction regarding Shakman--training of employees is being done and hiring plans have been implemented. Butler asked if there was such a thing as "legal patronage." (Yes--for exempt positions) Several commissioners desired a desk audit to determine which positions are exempt and a description of each job's requirements and duties. As was pointed out at a previous board meeting, much of this could be done by each manager in-house with no extra cost. It appears this still isn't being done.
OTHER NOTED INFORMATION:
It was brought up that pay outs for Workmen's Compensation and costs for litigation are very high.
It was noted that an ordinance passed previously required commissioners to report and file (with receipts) expenses incurred by their offices. This is to be done quarterly; previously no receipts were required to obtain the money and several commissioners took it as extra salary.
Comm. Steele proposed a lengthy procedure to more closely monitor contracts of over $1,000,000.00. This was referred to the Finance Committee for further review.
Comm. Gorman proposed an ordinance amendment to establish a familial relationship disclosure requirement for all persons contracting with Cook County. This was also sent to Finance Committee.
A resolution by Comm. Murphy to honor the League of Women Voters was made. This commemorated the Palos-Orland Park LWV for their 50 years of service.
