Cook County

On October 11, 2017, the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted to repeal a penny-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages. The FY2018 budget presented by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle had relied on the sweetened beverage tax to cover just over $200 million of the county's projected expenditures on services.

However, Cook County's budget shortfall is not merely a product of the short-term decision to repeal the sweetened beverage tax without revenue to replace it. The county has an ongoing structural deficit driven by the fact that 43 percent of the county's revenues come from sources that are growing slower than inflation. Moreover, the county has chosen not to increase its base property tax levy since 1996—even to adjust it for inflation. As a result, the real value of Cook County's base property tax levy has declined by 36 percent over the last 20 years.

Now that the tax has been repealed, county officials are considering closing the FY2018 shortfall by cutting spending on core services. Some of the proposed cuts would:

• Significantly increase caseloads for probation officers. Caseloads are currently 108 probationers per officer, or 21 percent above standards recommended by the Administrative Office of the Illinois Court.
• Suspend the Mortgage Forecloseure Mediation Program, which assists low-income homeowners through the foreclosure process.
• Close a branch courthouse, forcing residents to travel farther to attend hearings.

These service cuts would disproportionately affect Cook County residents who are low income and residents of color.

Cook County must address the long-term unsustainability of its revenue system if it is to avoid enacting further harsh cuts to core services.

You can read the full report on the Budget Blog or download a PDF by clicking below.

This Issue Brief is an update to a 2007 Brief, and provides an overview of who pays property taxes in Illinois, the steps in the property tax cycle, and what property tax revenue is used for. 

Local governments, such as counties, cities, and townships, provide a number of basic public services that help create safe, clean, healthy, vibrant communities. Cook County, which has over five million residents and is the second largest county in the nation, is no exception. It delivers such essential services as public safety, the operation of the largest court system in the United States, health care for poor and low-income individuals through three public hospitals and 14 community clinics, the operation of the largest jail facility in the nation, and economic and human development programs. The cost of the public services Cook County will provide in FY2007 is $2.8 billion. By comparison, the annual budget for Los Angles County, which has nearly 10 million residents, is over $21 billion annually.

This Report analyzes the County’s fiscal system to determine whether it has the ability to fund and sustain the level of public services it currently provides. The analysis reveals Cook County has what is called a “structural deficit.” A structural deficit exists when a public entity’s fiscal system is unable to generate sufficient revenue to support base-level public services from one year to the next, adjusting solely for annual inflationary costs. It is important to recognize that the model used in this report assumes service levels will remain constant – that is, when running simulations of the cost of public services into the future, no service expansions are projected from FY2007 levels. Therefore, the starting point for the analysis in this Report is the service levels existing after the cuts made in FY2007.

CTBA's 2006 study comparing the value of the tax breaks received by Cook County non-profit hospitals to the charity care they provide in return. The study was updated in 2009.

An analysis of the role “intergovernmental transfers” and the “upper payment limit” play in financing Illinois’ Medicaid program. These financing mechanisms are critical to funding healthcare for poor and low-income individuals throughout the state. 

An explanation of how the state shortchanges Cook County of federal Medicaid payments.

An update to CTBA's 2006 study comparing the value of the tax breaks received by Cook County non-profit hospitals to the charity care they provide in return. This Report finds that Chicago area non-profit, charitable hospitals spend only one dollar on charity care for nearly every three dollars they receive in tax breaks. This gap suggests non-profit hospitals are not fulfilling their public obligation to provide free or discounted care to low-income, uninsured families.

This Issue Brief provides an overview of who pays property taxes in Illinois, the steps in the property tax cycle, and what property tax revenue is used for.