Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has rolled out her annual budget forecast, an early look at the county’s year-end projections for spending and revenue in 2023 and a look ahead at 2024. The expected shortfall heading into 2024: $85.6 million.
Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Chicago Tribune.Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle presides over the Cook County Board on Dec. 5, 2022.
The county is expecting a $214.7 million surplus for the end of 2023, thanks to a one-time boost in personal property replacement tax, or PPRT, revenues from the state and higher-than-expected sales tax receipts, due in part to higher inflation.The county has also struggled to make a dent in the roughly 4,000 job vacancies it had on the books at the time of the 2023 budget’s passing. The upside is payroll savings.
The county’s reliance on contract workers at its hospital system — there are 700 registered nurse vacancies and the county is using 500 agency RNs, a spokeswoman said earlier this month — has led to flare-ups with its unionized workers, who say not filling empty roles with full-time employees has lowered the quality of care.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is closing enrollment for the state-funded health insurance program for immigrants under 65 and capping enrollment for those 65 and older on July 1. Among other changes to the program to control ballooning costs, Cook County Health is on the hook to “reimburse the State for any excess payment in a method and amount as determined by the Department,” according to a state release. As a public health system, CCH had been paid higher rates than other providers.
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