Understanding that budget cuts mean people cuts and other implications.
The Finance Committee, which is comprised of all Commissioners, began its series of meetings with all the departments and elected officials of Cook County government to review the proposed budget presented by President Preckwinkle on Feb. 1. Because of the change in Presidents, this proposed budget was presented much later than normal, but it still must be finalized by Feb. 28. As a result, the review is being severely compressed.
Note that one important change from past budget books is the inclusion of information pertaining to grants and full time equivalent (FTE) positions paid by grants under the appropriate departments. In the past, the grant information was segregated separately and FTE positions were not included in totals, making it much more difficult to review and consider. The League has raised this as a transparency issue with county personnel in the past, and so this change in presentation is welcomed.
Bureau of Finance
The County's new Chief Financial officer, Tariq Malhance, did a quick overview of the entire budget and then presented his budget.
Overall, there is a 2% reduction in operating costs from last year ($3.007 billion vs. $3.057 billion in 2010) and a reduction of 1,795 FTE (Full Time Equivalent employee) positions. Much of these reductions is driven by the reduction in the county's sales tax (a loss of $161 million) and a rise in the costs of salaries, pensions and benefits. There were a number of questions by Commissioner Collins trying to understand the underlying assumptions for the budget. In particular, she seemed to be questioning whether the projected revenues were too low.
In contrast to Facilities Management (see below), the Commissioners did not focus on the reduction of FTEs in the Bureau (down by 40, or about 1 in every 4.5 FTE positions). The Revenue area is restructuring to focus on delinquent payers, particularly the cigarette tax. The Comptroller talked about doing more with less, increasing the use of automation, and expects to be able to issue the 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report by May 31, far earlier than has been done previously. Commissioner Suffredin suggested that if the county had the same definitions for the County amusement tax as are used for the Chicago tax, that might make it easier to partner with the city to do audits and eliminate some contested payments. Commissioner Silvestri suggested also looking at partnering with suburban communities.
Commissioner Gainer asked whether it would make sense to have a risk manager in the Sheriff's department. Lisa Walik, the Bureau's Risk Manager, said that having a risk manager at the Health & Hospitals System has worked well, so she thought having one in the Sheriff's department would also be a good idea.
Facilities Management
James D'Amico, the Director, said that his department had complied with the President's directive to cut the budget by 16%. As a result, the budget is $5.36 million less than in 2010 with 117.4 fewer FTEs, or more than 1 in 4 employees. Mr. D'Amico said that in order to reach the target % budget reduction, more employees have to be let go because of the increase in salaries for employees in that department approved by the Board last year.
Having fewer employees means that his department will no longer be able to rebuild spaces for departments, and he stated that his department can no longer bear the cost of repairing damage caused by vandalism in the County Jail or the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. He also stated that he believes that if the costs of repairs (amounting to about $2.5 million) done by Facilities Management are borne by those areas, they would have the incentive to take steps to see that the vandalism was reduced. Mr. D'Amico also suggested a way for the County to obtain new revenues would be to charge for parking, as is done at the garage at the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. There is a $2/day charge (or $25 for a monthly pass). He stated that charging at other County garages (such as at the Criminal Courts building) would produce $2.5 million. (If charge more than $2, the city tax of over $1 kicks in, which means that County would have to charge quite a bit more to get more than $2.)
Several Commissioners raised concerns about entire classes of employees being let go, such as Laborers and Pipe Coverers. There are plans to use outside contractors when needed, but the costs for them will likely be almost double that of employees. Mr. D'Amico said that he looked at areas where there would be less demand for services in the future, where performance was not at national standards, and where outside contractors where already being used. Commissioners continued to be concerned as to whether this budget has sufficient money for the entire fiscal year 2011.
Chicago Board of Elections
Because the only elections in 2011 under this Board's supervision are limited to city elections, the Chicago budget picks up all the costs this year except for the salaries of the three appointed members of the Board of Elections and the Executive Director, which are in this budget.
Bureau of Economic Development
This is a new bureau that is made up of Planning & Development, Capital Planning, Building & Zoning, and P.O.E.T. (the latter which is totally funded by the Federal Govt. and which has been in the news for problems). The capital budget (which last year was $519 million) is not being presented with this proposed operating budget. A complete review of capital projects is being undertaken, and the department expects to present a proposed capital budget in a couple of months. The Building and Zoning department covers unincorporated Cook County. P.O.E.T. has a new head and will be renamed and restructured to improve its effectiveness.
-- Submitted by Priscilla Mims
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