Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The meeting was called to order by the committee chair. Lynetta Haynes Turner, Chief of Staff to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, presented the fiscal year 2027 budget for offices under the president (OUP). The presentation highlighted the county's fiscal responsibility, equity investments, and the impact of programs supported by the OUP budget. Commissioners expressed appreciation for the administration's transparency and difficult decisions, and raised questions on specific programs and budget line items.
I think we have everybody. Okay. Good morning, everyone. I am Lynetta Haynes Turner, Chief of Staff to Cook County Board President Tony Preckwinkle. I'm happy to be here to talk about the fiscal year 2027 budget for offices under the president. But first, I want to share a short video called Your Cook County, which highlights the incredible work happening across our county every day. During the budget process, we spend a lot of time talking about dollars and difficult decisions. This video is an important reminder of what those dollars represent, the people we serve, the communities we strengthen, and the meaningful difference our employees make in the lives of our residents. I've always wanted to say this roll the show. That meant the video. Okay. We will show the video towards the end, so I'll I'll keep speaking. Thank you. Before the uh attempt at the video, which will happen soon, our CFO and her dynamic team walked you through some of the important work we do and how we're doing it while being fiscally responsible. They painted a detailed picture of the county's external pressures and financial challenges and how we are confronting them with thoughtful budgeting and careful spending. This has been a difficult and challenging budget to develop, but we have a lot to be proud of, and so much of this is made possible by the hard work of the offices under the president. As chief of staff, I get to see up close the truly great work led by some of the most talented, smart, and committed people in government. Our employees have dedicated their lives to making Cook County a better place. They have stepped up to every challenge, and we are all better for it. As I said during the prelim, their great work enables Cook County's great work. I am thankful to every single person in OUP who makes what we do possible. Next slide. We also manage numerous special purpose funds like MFT and the Equity Fund. I thought this slide was important to include to show how OUP represents a relatively small part of general fund costs while having a massive impact on the work being done across the county. Next slide. On this slide, we get into more detail about our general fund budget, which is $338.8 million across offices under the president. This is an increase of $54.2 million. This increase is driven by the allocation of the planned first year ARPA reserve allocation that was discussed in the Bureau of Finance presentation. The table on the left has a helpful summary of how our budget is broken out across our various departments. It includes the year-over-year changes in the budget as well as how the general fund is distributed between the bureaus and offices. On the right is a chart of our budget by categories like personnel, supplies, and maintenance. As you can see, personnel services account for most of the OUP budget as 65.5%. And the next slide, we have a look at our budgeted position counts. The FY27 proposed budget for OUP accounts for 2,118 positions, and OUP budgeted positions are down by 33 total across all funds, which includes grants and special purpose funds. Now that I've covered some of the specifics on our budget, I would like to get into the exciting work of our bureaus and departments over the next year. Thanks to the ongoing commitment to build on our good work from our bureaus and departments. We're continuing to lead by example and show what good government looks like and what it can accomplish. There is a lot underway at the county, but today I'll just highlight a few of the things we're doing. Community safety and violence intervention is the first. Cook County has invested in the tools and strategies to build safer futures for our residents, especially young people. Since the height of the gun violence crisis in 2021, gun homicides in Cook County have fallen by 50%. It is a testament to the great work being done and proof that our sustained investment in communities is effective. Across the state, county, and city, through the Government Alliance for Safer Communities, more than $350 million has gone to community-based violence intervention and prevention, including $110 million from Cook County alone. This past summer, we committed another $20 million into our community violence intervention programming and will be building on this work in the coming year to support youth development programs, survival services, and outreach workers. And through our Justice Advisory Council, we have invested $5 million in domestic violence intervention, and we will continue to support community organizations that provide critical services to survivors and families. Housing and homelessness is the second area of focus. We will continue collaborating with our partners to expand affordable housing, increase homeownership opportunities, assist renters, and support residents experiencing homelessness. In FY 2026, our Department of Planning and Development supported more than 350 units of affordable and supportive housing.