REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

 

June 24, 2008

 

The Honorable,

The Board of Commissioners of Cook County

Attendance

Present:

Chairman Daley, Vice-Chairman Sims, Commissioners Butler, Claypool, Collins, Gorman, Maldonado, Murphy, Peraica, Quigley, Schneider, Silvestri and Suffredin (13)

 

Absent:

President Stroger and Commissioners Beavers, Goslin, Moreno and Steele (4)

 

Also Present:

Johnny Brown – Chief Operating Officer, Stroger Hospital of Cook County; Patrick T. Driscoll, Jr. – Deputy State’s Attorney, Chief, Civil Actions Bureau; Sylvia Edwards – Acting Chief Operating Officer, Oak Forest Hospital of Cook County; Jonathan Rothstein – Acting Chief, Bureau of Human Resources; and Jarese Wilson – Director, Department of Budget and Management Services

 

Court Reporter:

Anthony W. Lisanti, C.S.R.

 

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

            Your Committee on Finance of the Board of Commissioners of Cook County met pursuant to notice on Tuesday, June 24, 2008, at the hour of 10:00 A.M. in the Board Room, Room 569, County Building, 118 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois, to consider transfers of funds between accounts, as requested by various departments of County government.

 

Chairman Daley announced that an agenda has been distributed which outlines the order of consideration of the transfer of funds.

 

The Secretary to the Board provided the following corrections and omissions issued by the Department of Budget and Management Services:

 

1.     A corrected Open Positions report dated June 16, 2008 was provided to each member of the Committee on Friday, June 20, 2008.  This appears in Volume II, Supplemental Data.

 

2.     A request for transfer of funds from the Office of the Medical Examiner in the amount of $201,600 should be included in the Bureau of Administration’s requests for transfer of funds over $25,000.  This request was received in time, but was not included in the book in error.  Copies of this request were provided to the members of the Committee on June 23, 2008.

 

3.     As a result of the inclusion of the transfer of funds request by the Office of the Medical Examiner, the Five Year Transfer History and Summary of Transfers has been amended and has been distributed to the committee.

 

Commissioner Quigley made a request that for future transfer of funds meetings, the Commissioners should receive the Annual Appropriation Bill for that current fiscal year prior to consideration of transfers of funds.  Additionally, he questioned the absence of funds transfer requests from Stroger Hospital of Cook County.  An examination of a recent trial balance indicated that Stroger Hospital might need to request transfers of funds, as some accounts indicated shortfalls.

 

Chairman Daley pointed out that the date for this transfer of funds meeting was chosen by the Budget Department.  He asked Jarese Wilson, Director of the Department of Budget and Management Services, to address Commissioner Quigley’s questions.

 

Ms. Wilson stated that the Appropriation Bill was nearing completion and she expects that it will be received soon.

 

With regard to Stroger Hospital, Ms. Wilson explained that the accounts indicating shortfalls were actually the result of accounting errors in which the wrong accounts were charged.  These errors would be corrected internally with charge-backs, a corrective accounting procedure.  David R. Small, Chief Operating Officer of the Bureau of Health Services has explained this in a letter, and indicated that they would not be in need of transfers of funds at this time.

 

Johnny Brown, Chief Operating Officer of Stroger Hospital of Cook County, confirmed Ms. Wilson’s explanation.  Due to the delay in the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget passage and the creation of new business units in the Office of the Chief Health Administrator, purchases were expended against the existing units within Stroger Hospital’s account (Department 897).  There are sufficient funds available in the Office of the Chief Health Administrator account (Department 890) and the Fixed Charges and Special Purpose Appropriations – Health (Department 899) for the required charge-backs.

 

Chairman Daley requested that the letter from Mr. Small be included as part of the record.

 

Commissioner Suffredin asked Ms. Wilson to explain how the requesting departments could get current data on which to base their requests if the Appropriation Bill is not yet available.

 

Ms. Wilson responded that the departments use the One World System, which links them to the same information as that available on the Trial Balance.  She stated that she was confident that the requests accurately reflected what was contained in the Appropriation Bill.

 

Commissioner Schneider questioned the inclusion of a previous transfer of funds for his office that was included in the back up materials for the meeting.

 

Ms. Wilson stated that her directive was to include all transfer of funds that occurred in Fiscal Year 2008, which is the reason for the inclusion of the transfer totaling $32,345, approved by the Board on December 4, 2007.

 

After further review, it was determined that although Commissioner Schneider’s transfer of funds occurred in Fiscal Year 2008, the transfer did not involve Fiscal Year 2008 dollars.

 

Commissioner Schneider, seconded by Commissioner Gorman, moved to amend Volume II - Supplemental Data, to remove Commissioner Schneider’s Fiscal Year 2007 transfer of funds in the amount of $32,345.00 from the backup materials.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

The Committee proceeded to consider requests from various departments to transfer appropriations between budgetary accounts.  Chairman Daley proceeded to the requests for transfers of funds under $25,000.  They are as follows:

 

Transfers less than $25,000

 

Bureau of Administration:

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

011

Office of the Chief Administrative Officer

$2,500

161

Department of Environmental Control

5,750

510

Animal Control Department

2,300

530

Cook County Law Library

8,500

 

Bureau of Finance:

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

007

Cook County Department of Revenue

$5,000

008

Department of Risk Management

526

030

County Purchasing Agent

13,000

 

Bureau of Technology:

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

023

Department of Office Technology

$16,000

545

Geographical Information Systems

1,015

 

Bureau of Capital, Planning and Facilities Management:

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

031

Office of Capital Planning and Policy

$1,500

 

Assessor

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

040

Office of the County Assessor

$105

 

Chief Judge

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

305

Office of the Public Guardian

$24,500

 

Cook County Board of Commissioners

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

018

Office of the County Commissioners

 

$9,000

 

County Clerk

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

110

County Clerk

 

$13,900

533

County Clerk – Automation Fund

 

10,800

 

Recorder of Deeds

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

130

Recorder of Deeds

 

$13,000

 

Commissioner Silvestri, seconded by Commissioner Murphy, moved approval of the transfer of funds requests under $25,000.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

Chairman Daley proceeded to the requests for transfers of funds over $25,000.  They are as follows:

 

Transfers over $25,000

 

Bureau of Administration:

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

259

Office of the Medical Examiner

$201,600

260

Office of the Public Defender

190,000

500

Cook County Highway Department

120,000

 

Commissioner Murphy, seconded by Vice Chairman Sims, moved approval of the transfer of funds requests for the Bureau of Administration, as amended.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

Bureau of Health Services:

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

240

Cermak Health Services of Cook County

$383,966

568

Juvenile Temporary Detention Center – Health Services

260,500

891

Provident Hospital of Cook County

519,000

893

Ambulatory and Community Health Network of Cook County

200,000

898

Oak Forest Hospital of Cook County

555,498

 

After asking several questions pertaining to the staffing levels and usage of overtime, Commissioner Suffredin asked for a report on the status of positions filled and unfilled at Oak Forest Hospital.

 

Jonathan Rothstein, Acting Chief of the Bureau of Human Resources, responded that he would provide the information.  He also mentioned that a hiring plan had been developed for each entity under the Bureau of Health Services.

 

Commissioner Suffredin stated that it would be helpful to review the information contained in the hiring plans.

 

Commissioner Peraica inquired regarding the portion of the transfer of funds for Oak Forest Hospital that was earmarked for payment of water and sewer bills.

 

Sylvia Edwards, Acting Chief Operating Officer of Oak Forest Hospital, responded that there have been inquiries into whether Oak Forest Hospital, as a non-profit hospital, should be assessed for water and sewer, but there has been no resolution of the matter.

 

Commissioner Peraica requested an opinion from the State’s Attorney on the matter.

 

Commissioner Butler, seconded by Vice Chairman Sims, moved approval of the transfer of funds requests for the Bureau of Health Services.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

Bureau of Human Resources:

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

032

Bureau of Human Resources

$102,000

 

Commissioner Murphy, seconded by Commissioner Butler, moved approval of the transfer of funds request for the Bureau of Human Resources.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

Bureau of Technology:

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

009

Office of the Chief Information Officer

$122,000

 

Commissioner Murphy, seconded by Commissioner Collins, moved approval of the transfer of funds request for the Bureau of Technology.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

Board of Review:

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

050

Board of Review

$28,500

 

Commissioner Maldonado, seconded by Commissioner Butler, moved approval of the transfer of funds request for the Board of Review.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

Clerk of the Circuit Court:

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

335

Office of the Clerk

$350,000

529

Document Storage Fund

316,295

 

Commissioner Murphy, seconded by Commissioner Collins, moved approval of the transfer of funds requests for the Clerk of the Circuit Court.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

Recorder of Deeds:

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

527

Document Storage System Fund

$30,000

 

Commissioner Murphy, seconded by Commissioner Collins, moved approval of the transfer of funds request for the Recorder of Deeds.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

Sheriff:

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

211

Department of Fiscal Administration and Support Services

$75,000

212

Department of Women’s Justice Services

120,000

215

Custodial Department

75,000

230

Court Services Division

115,000

231

Police Department

2,060,760

235

Impact Incarceration Department

3,147

236

Department of Community Supervision and Intervention

300

238

Jail Diversion and Crime Prevention

537

249

Merit Board

828

 

Commissioner Murphy, seconded by Commissioner Collins, moved approval of the transfer of funds requests for the Sheriff’s Office.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

State’s Attorney:

 

Dept. No.         Title                                                                                          Amount Transferred

 

250

State’s Attorney

$76,000

562

State’s Attorney Bad Check Diversion Program

100,000

 

Commissioner Murphy, seconded by Commissioner Quigley, moved approval of the transfer of funds requests for the State’s Attorney’s Office.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

Chairman Daley asked the Secretary to the Board to call upon the registered public speakers, in accordance with Cook County Code, Sec. 2-108(dd):

 

1.   George Blakemore, Concerned Citizen

2.   Mike Slinkman, Concerned Citizen

3.   Harold Slinkman, Concerned Citizen

 

The detailed requests from various departments to transfer appropriations between budgetary accounts is attached hereto and made a part hereof.

 

Vice Chairman Sims, seconded by Commissioner Claypool, moved to adjourn the meeting.  The motion carried unanimously and the meeting was adjourned.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Committee on Finance

 

 

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

John P. Daley, Chairman

Attest:

 

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Matthew B. DeLeon, Secretary

 

 

The transcript for this meeting is available in the Office of the Secretary to the Board, 118 N. Clark Street, Room 567, Chicago, IL  60602.