No Lock-Step Votes as Board Approves 2016 $4.5 Billion Budget as Amended

2016 Cook County Proposed Budget:  Finance Committee and Board Meetings, Nov. 18, 2015

President Preckwinkle was successful in getting the votes to approve all Amendments to the Executive Budget she supported during the Finance Committee meeting and then in winning approval of both the new revenues and overall spending plan for the $4.5 billion budget at the Board Meeting. One of the interesting aspects of the November 13 Finance Committee meeting, which dealt with the additional revenue sources for the 2016 budget, and the November 18 meeting of the Finance Committee to deal with proposed Amendments to the Budget, was that there were different Commissioners voting for and against the differing proposals.  The same held true during the Board meeting in which the related budget proposals were passed.  In past years, it was common to see the same Commissioners voting together. 

Voting yes to approve the entire budget, as amended, were Commissioners Arroyo, Boykin, Butler, Daley, Gainer, Garcia, Moore, Murphy, Silvestri, Sims, Steele, and Tobolski.  Voting no were Commissioners Fritchey, Goslin, Morrison, Schneider, and Suffredin.  Commissioners Fritchey, Schneider, and Suffredin stated that their opposition was largely based on the tax increases used to support the spending plan, especially the sales tax and hotel tax.

In addition, the following Commissioners voted in opposition to one or more of the other Administration-supported budget-related proposals: Gainer, Murphy, Silvestri, and Tobolski.  Also, Commissioners Boykin, Daley, Fritchey, Goslin, Schneider, and Sims voted against (with Commissioner Suffredin voting present) the two proposals to increase Clerk of the Court fees.

Amendments Delay COLA Increase for Non-Union Employees and Increase Money for Chief Judge’s Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program

The Finance Committee considered 24 proposed amendments to the budget, approving 12 and voting down 4, with 8 withdrawn by sponsors after discussions.  Most of the Amendments approved were non-controversial corrections.  All Commissioners also supported the partial restoration of money for the Chief Judge’s Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program to bring the program up to 60% of the 2015 budget, utilizing additional monies from the Adult Probation Service Fee and the Social Service/Probation and Court Service Fees. 

However, there was much discussion about the proposal to delay until June 1, 2016, the previously approved cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of 2% for non-union County employees that had been scheduled to be effective on December 1, 2015.  The Chief of Staff for the State’s Attorney’s Office  talked about the disparate impact this delay would have on that office that has one of the largest number of non-union employees:  the office is 3% of the budget, but its employees will bear 22% of the total cost savings through the delay in salary increase.  Another complaint was that this Amendment, like all the others, was posted on the County’s web site less than 24 hours prior to the scheduled start of the meeting.  Nevertheless, the Amendment passed by a vote of 14-3, with Commissioners Fritchey, Murphy, and Suffredin voting no. 

Commissioner Fritchey ended up withdrawing 3 proposed amendments which offered an across the board cut of 1% in lieu of the hotel tax and ticket re-sellers’ tax, knowing that the votes weren’t there to pass them.  Also withdrawn was a proposal to add $500,000 for restorative justice for grants from the Justice Advisory Council.  The head of that Council spoke against the proposal saying that it preferred to first see whether the existing grants were producing positive results before giving out more money. 

One Amendment that failed to pass was sponsored by Commissioners Arroyo and Suffredin which would have eliminated 9 positions from  the Clerk of the Court’s Inspector General department in favor of adding 11 Asst. State’s Attorney positions.  Comm. Arroyo stated that based on what the Clerk of the Court had said the duties of the Inspector General’s department in her office were (to investigate complaints of fraud and abuse in that office), the Commissioner believes these positions are redundant to the duties of the State’s Attorney.  Another Commissioner wondered why the Clerk of the Court didn’t just use the County’s Inspector General.  However, the Clerk of the Court’s Chief of Staff said that its employees in the Inspector General’s department also had to transfer evidence, such as bags of heroin, to and from court, and transfer large sums of money around, which you wouldn’t want the average employee in the Clerk’s office to do.  Commissioners Daley, Fritchey, Gainer, Garcia, and Tobolski joined with Commissioners Arroyo and Suffredin, but the Amendment failed with 10 Commissioners voting against. 

Also failing was an Amendment sponsored by Commissioner Steele to add 3 investigative positions to the Public Defender’s office by increasing the turnover adjustment for that department.  Commissioners Arroyo, Fritchey, Moore, Murphy, and Suffredin joined Steele in supporting, but 10 other Commissioners voted no.

The Finance Committee and Board meetings to deal with the budget began at 2 pm, after all the regularly scheduled committee and Board meetings that day.  These budget meetings ended at about 6:20 pm. 

-- Submitted by Priscilla Mims, League Observer