More from the Cook County Board Meeting, October 20, 2009

The Forest Preserve District is celebrating the l00 year anniversary of the Burnham Plan. Mr. Todd Stroger reported on the 20l0 proposal which will be sent to the Forest Preserve Commission for consideration and adoption. On October 30^th, there will be a public hearing and Nov. 30th there will be a meeting to discuss the Brookfield Zoo and the Botanic Gardens. On Dec. 2nd the budget will be adopted. The Forest Preserve District will not raise the tax levy this year. They own 68,000 acres and they have benefited from 93,000 hours of volunteer workers. This is equal to $23,000. They have a AA tax rating. They have increased their activities and media endeavors . The iPhone will soon list their activities.

Rev. Kenneth Franklin was elevated to become a Bishop. He is a community activist and church leader. October 20th was proclaimed Bishop Franklin Day. He has 237 churches under his leadership.

The Chicago South Swim Club was honored for its competitive swim program for children from 4 to l8 years of age. About l5 children were in attendance and honored.

Some juvenile detention individuals were moved from Cook County facilities to other counties. The cost in Cook County is $400 to $500 a day and the cost in other counties is $ll0 a day. An explanation of the cost difference was requested from Earl Dunlap, Transitional Administrator of the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. The cost difference is attributed to the prison employee overtime pay. A system that was put in three years ago is not working yet.

The sales tax is down but it is not yet a concern. This year only 67% of the money allocated for health has been spent. The County Health system is improving its patient collection program. Payments are posted on line.

The property tax multiplier, or equalization factor, for Cook County has increased. The Illinois Department of Revenue in Springfield increased the multiplier to 2.85 %. Some feel this is not fair because many property tax payers think the increase comes from Cook County, when in fact, it is imposed by the state.

The Chief Operating Officer of the Dept. of Public Health was awarded $2,4ll,932 to provide vaccination at clinics for H1N1 influenza . He was also granted $l,477,l3l to maintain a suburban Cook County emergency response preparedness plan for incidents of bioterrorism, infectious disease outbreaks, and other potential emergency situations.

--Submitted by Observer Arline Doblin

Watching the Money in Cook County

The October 20, 2009, meeting of the Cook County Board of Commissioners was characterized by topics of taxes and expenditures--with some commissioners looking to control some costs. Here are some highlights:

Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC)-- Cook County (CC) is paying other jurisdictions (Du Page and Lake Counties) to take juveniles who have gang problems or assaulting staff problems, etc. in JTDC . Parents are being paid $150.00 (cab fare) to visit their kids (in other counties) weekly. CC pays other counties $110.00 per day to house these juveniles; it costs CC $400.00-$500.00 per day to house the kids. There was questioning on why the big difference in cost. This should be answered at the budget hearings.

CC is also paying private contractors to do security and cleaning at JTDC--why aren't county employees doing this? Possible reason--140 of 600 employees at JTDC are on FMLA (leave). CC Bd. spent $1 million on a fingerprint security system, which is not operating as it should; so up to four security people at a time are hand-writing people into the facility.

Shakman Decree--This long-lasting court order (from 1994) for county elected offices (among them President's Office, Forest Preserve District, Sheriff's Department) to have compliance administrators overseeing hiring and promotion practices due to patronage is costing the county millions of dollars each year. Comm. Sims again requested that funds for a desk audit be done to work towards a release from this decree. Comm. Collins again requested that only one compliance administrator cover all four offices to save money (not possible under the court orders).

Worker's Compensation Claims--Since January of this fiscal year, $6,500,000.00 has been spent on employee injury claims. Comm. Peraica asked if employees are being monitored on these injury claims (no answer given). Comm. Gainer asked if employees are tracked for traffic accidents (yes). She also asked if Cook County is negotiating Medicare/Medicaid rates to county hospitals for treating inmates (county is "working on it").

Revenue Report highlights--the Health and Hospital Systems (HHS) is $56 million ahead of budget due to good practices incorporated in the past year, especially on collecting patient fees. The total for all home rule taxes is down $126 million this year due to a lesser amount of sales tax (down $46 million), cigarette taxes, motor fuel, etc. Comm. Moreno is against lowering the sales tax because the county would be "$400 million in the hole." About $46 million of the sales taxes goes to HHS, so some commissioners said health services of the county would not suffer if a decrease in sales tax occurred.

On-line Check Registry status--this proposal by Comm. Peraica is in progress according to the Chief Information Officer, Antonio Hylton, and will be completed within 30 days after getting approval from the States Attorney's Office. This is intended as a means of greater transparency for citizens/taxpayers and has been delayed a few months already.

Property Taxes--Due to the very late issuance of property tax bills, a resolution was passed forming a committee to investigate the whole property tax procedure. Too many disparate units in too many elected official offices have input, which complicates the process and has resulted in the late tax bills this year and in the past. This hurts local governments who can't pay their bills on time and may now need to borrow money. Comm. Suffredin pointed out that the multiplier, set by the state Dept. of Revenue, is the highest ever-- "way out of whack." Comm. Peraica pointed out the equalizer is over 3% this year (high). Comm. Moreno stated that only 5% of all property taxes go to Cook County government.

October CCHHS Town Hall Meetings

The schedule for the October Town Meetings and the Power-point presentations for both Board Planning sessions are on the CCHHS website. Meetings at various locales will take place from October 19 through October 29.

ANOTHER MARATHON PLANNING MEETING FOR CCHHS

CCHHS Board Meeting October 7, 2009

The Regular Board Meeting had a short agenda to allow time for another Strategic Planning meeting. The only committee report that engendered discussion was that of the Quality and Patient Safety because of confusion over exactly what policy was to be approved regarding employees receiving the H1N1 immunization. Because of the urgency of a decision on the matter it was rescheduled to a meeting the following week.

Several hours were spent reviewing the Strategic Plan. It will be presented again in its revised form at seven "town meetings" in October. The main challenges continue to be geographic access to services, the balance between primary care and specialty care, quality measures, obsolete facilities and low satisfaction among patients and staff.

The focus will be on assuring high quality care and improving the health of the residents of Cook County. Some suggestions include developing "hubs", partnerships, and realigning services and sites. There was a long discussion of closing some services and the impact of any such decision, e.g., the demand for OB deliveries has diminished at Provident and Stroger hospitals and Pediatrics has become a regional specialty. Rehab and long term care services at Oak Forest hospital warrant discussion. The existence of a large network of Federally Qualified Health Centers in the county could meet needs in the ambulatory care network. Other partnerships should also be explored. There is a need for discharge planning and follow up.

The planning process looks toward completion by mid November.

--Submitted by Observer Nancy Staunton