Board of Review: The Board is headed by 3 Commissioners
elected by district.
The Board rules on
appeals by property owners of assessments from the County Assessor.
The Board touted that it completed its work
by the necessary deadline so that 2
nd installment property tax bills
could go out on time for the 3
rd year in a row, after many years of
being late.
In response to questions
from Commissioner Gainer, the Board stated that the rate of appeals that got
reductions from the Board was running between 60 and 72%.
Commissioner Gainer asked that the Board
provide information by commercial vs. residential on the total number of
appeals, the number that were successful, the amount of the reduction in the
assessed value.
Commissioner Gainer
expressed concern that those not sophisticated enough to appeal are paying
higher taxes as a result of all the successful appeals.
Commissioner Daley wanted to know the rate of
successful appeals by
township.
Assessor: The proposed budget reduces employee county
by 23, but only a slight reduction in
the budget. The Assessor explained that
a number of those positions had only been budgeted for $1 in last year’s
budget, so eliminating these positions did not result in a large $ reduction. The Assessor touted the Fraud Unit which has
gone after those trying to take senior or homeowners’ exemptions that they are
not entitled to. So far $5.1 million
have been collected and $4.1 million are in the process of being collected by
this Unit.
Treasurer: The Treasurer touted the fact that taxpayers
now have 9 payment methods for their property taxes vs. only 2 when she took
office in 1998. The headcount is down
65% since 1998 and the Treasurer’s goal is to get down to 60 people. Commissioner Gainer raised concerns about the
new state law which moves the tax sales earlier and the expected resulting
increase in the “sales in error” which could cost the County as much as $30 to
$50 million. Purchasers of properties
under the tax sales do have to pay a fee that goes into a fund in the event the
property should not have been sold for nonpayment of taxes, but this fund
currently is quickly depleted and the County has to pay any remaining costs
associated with the sale in error, which includes interest on the payments made
by the purchasers. It was implied that
the date of the tax sales was moved up as a result of the strong lobbies of the
purchasers in Springfield.
Recorder of Deeds: The proposed budget for 2015 is down by $680
thousand and 9 FTEs. A work flow
analysis had been done and the Recorder expects to further streamline the
processes within the department.
Commissioner Gainer asked how long it will take to digitalize all the
files, and the Recorder answered about 10 years. Commissioner Gainer wondered whether the
Recorder needed a special purpose automation fund, like the Treasurer has, but
the Budget Director explained that the special purpose GIS fund can be used for
this.
Department of Human
Rights & Ethics: The Director
reported on the improvements in this department, which was tainted by scandal
under the prior Administration, since she took over almost 4 years ago. There has been a 72% reduction in the backlog
of cases in 2014, and the goal is that by the end of 2015, there will be no
cases older than one year. Commissioner
Gainer asked about coordination with equivalent offices at the State and
Federal levels. The Director said that
the County cross-references to see whether the same case is at the State and/or
Federal level and the government offices divide up any duplicates. The Director stated that there are federal
dollars available for handling cases if this department is found to be
equivalent to the Federal department.
This is in the process of being reviewed.
Department of Human
Resources: There are 2 remaining
issues left to be found in compliance with the Shakman Decree and the Director
of HR stated that the County was close to finalizing these. One new initiative for 2015 is an executive
development program. The Director stated
that it is hoped that the major unions’ contracts for 2012-2016 will be
resolved by the end of 2014.
Commissioner Suffredin expressed concern whether there was sufficient
money in this budget to take care of any resulting increases. The Budget Director stated that the budget
does reflect the expected outcome of contract negotiations. Commissioner Gainer asked about the provision
in the Budget Resolution which allows the Chief Judge to transfer money among
the different funds under the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC) without
having to go back to the Board in the event the JTDC is moved under the Chief Judge’s control from
the Federal Court’s. Commissioner
Suffredin explained that this is similar to what was done 2 years ago to allow
the newly elected Recorder of Deeds to revise the budget submitted by her
predecessor. Commissioner Suffredin
stressed that in both cases, the total budget could not be increased, just a
movement of dollars among funds. Further,
any new contracts to employ outside services would have to come before the
Board.
Department of
Homeland Security and Emergency Management:
Commissioner Gainer asked about the plan for dealing with
cyber-security. The Director said that
that area is moving from the Bureau of Technology to his Department, and a new
team is being built. His Department will
be responsible for all systems under the President and for the court system and
HHS. However, any systems that are
entirely for a particular elected officer will be the responsibility of that
elected official. But the Department
could propose standards that the Board could enact that would apply to all
areas in the County.
Office of the
President and Justice Advisor Council (JAC): The current lower level of the jail
population as compared to last year tracks with the increase in the number of
judicial orders for electronic monitoring which began at the same time as the
President wrote seeking assistance from the Illinois Supreme Court in September
of 2013. Commissioner Sims mentioned
that she and Commissioner Fritchey have had problems with the awarding of
grants by the JAC. The JAC is
intentionally giving smaller grants to help smaller organizations that may not
have the capacity to obtain larger grants, but it was suggested that the RFP
(request for proposal) should indicate that.
Commissioner Suffredin asked what was being done to give judges more
information so good decisions can be made concerning bail and alternatives to
incarceration prior to trial. The Budget
Director pointed to the proposed budget for the Chief Judge which adds 27
positions for electronic monitoring and for the new “2nd look”
program. In addition, more there is more
money for the “no place to stay” program under the Sheriff’s budget for those
who otherwise could not go on electronic monitoring because they have no place
to stay.
Commissioner Gainer asked about the status of the
President’s motion to the Federal Court to take over the Sheriff’s authority to
release those in jail due to overcrowding.
The motion is still pending.
Clerk: The Clerk touted that the special purpose
Election budget for 2015 is less than it was 4 years ago, the equivalent year
in the election cycle. Voter
registration in suburban Cook is up by 30,000 and it looks like more people
will be voting by mail based on the increase in applications received thus
far. Commissioner Suffredin asked about
online voter registration, that is a new program this year. Statewide, there were 31,000 online
registrations and 3,200 in suburban Cook.
Commissioner Sims asked whether there would be more touch screens, which
she is a fan of. The Clerk is not
purchasing more, but is looking for the next step in technology. E-poll books will be in every suburban precinct,
with the paper back-up. The advantage to
the E-poll books of voter registrants is that they have up-to-date information
and allow for immediate corrections since it is connected to the online
database.
Chicago Board of
Elections: The head of the Board
said that there have been no major advances in voting technology yet to replace
the touch screens, but that this Board would work with the Clerk to leverage
their purchasing power when the time was right.
The budget is down quite a bit
for 2015 because the City of Chicago covers most of the Board’s activities for
this year when the only elections in the city will be for city offices.
-- submitted by Priscilla Mims
