2014 Proposed Budget Passed Unanimously
With all 17 Cook County Commissioners voting “yes,” the 2014 Proposed Cook County Budget was passed with just a few amendments at the November 8, 2013 Special Board Meeting. Several long-time Commissioners noted that this has not happened in the last 20 years. As Commissioner Peter Silvestri put it “No new taxes, no new fees, no layoffs, no problem.”
Commissioner Suffredin noted that this Budget reflects a sea-change in the County’s emphasis from focusing on stabilizing the Health & Hospitals System (“HHS”) budget to focusing on improving the workings of the Public Safety function of the County, each of which represents 1/3 of the total County Budget. Commissioner Suffredin said that the expected monies coming from the national Affordable Healthcare Act, mainly due to the expansion of Medicaid, have enabled the stabilization of the finances of the HHS. Commissioner Daley spoke about the importance of the meeting of the Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice next week with the principals involved with the criminal justice system in Cook County as a first step in improving the workings of the criminal justice system here. As Commissioner Daley put it, “it is about accountability, not control.” He mentioned that the Board has seen firsthand the lack of cooperation among the various Public Safety elected officials over the past several years.
Amendments to the Budget
During the Finance Committee meeting prior to the Special Board Meeting, the Commissioners considered the 19 Amendments that had been proposed to the Executive Budget Proposal. By shifting some funds from other sources, and recognizing some additional revenues not already included in the budget proposal, the Commissioners voted to (1) approve 13 new adult probation officers, 2 new supervisors, and a forensic psychiatrist; (2) increase the amount of funding for the Veterans Assistance Commission by $100,000 (which had been urged by veterans groups at a number of public hearings on the budget); (3) fund two apprentice electricians under Facilities Management; add two new members to the Zoning Board of Appeals; and (4) use $100,000 to fund a youth summer jobs program to be administered by the Cook County Forest Preserve District.
Two substitute amendments proposed by Commissioner Fritchey also passed. No. 17S requires that the Board approve any transfers of money proposed by a department out of their personnel account to any of their other accounts. No. 18S provides that the final year-end trial balance for 2013 be made available to the Commissioners and the public by posting it with the 2014 approved line item budget by April 30, 2014 . Unfortunately, both of these passed amendments were substitutes for what had been made available to the public. While the Commissioners received paper copies, they were not available online or otherwise to this observer prior to the vote. However, as of the afternoon following the meeting, these two substitute amendments were on the County’s Budget web site.
Commissioner Suffredin withdrew several amendments he had proposed to provide some additional pre-trial services and personnel for the criminal justice system because he was unable to find any revenues to fund his proposals. Commissioner Suffredin lamented that the County currently has no mechanism to recognize savings being realized as a result of departments’ efforts and then utilize those savings to create more savings. For example, he had wanted to add 11 more Assistant State’s Attorneys for pre-trial proceedings with the expectation that this would result in a reduction in those going to jail and a corresponding reduction in the costs of keeping people in jail. He had hoped to utilize the savings from the State’s Attorney’s jail diversion programs. Commissioner Suffredin said that the Budget Department had committed to working on a mechanism for recognizing savings in the future.
Another amendment that Commissioner Suffredin withdrew was a proposal to amend the Budget Resolution to create an “Accountability Charge” for any department that is found to have violated the Shakman Decree which prohibits the hiring, firing, promotion, or demotion of employees for political reasons. This “Accountability Charge” would be equal to 5% of the total amount assessed for the violation and would be a deduction from that department’s operating funds for that year. However, Commissioner Suffredin says that he will present this proposal as a resolution at an upcoming Board meeting.
-- submitted by Priscilla Mims, League Observer
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