Cook County Board begins laborious cost-cutting

Faced with stiff opposition to borrowing $700 million through bonds for the 2009 budget year after a $380 million increase last year in the sales tax, the Cook County Board took baby steps Tuesday to paring back their borrowing tab.

Commissioners, rather than approve the Stroger administration's request, decided to go item by item through the 2009 capital project list and vote yea or nay.

Among the first projects to go was a $2.25 million parking lot repaving job at a West-Side warehouse. The $300,000 design contract for the project had been awarded Sept. 4 to Infrastructure Engineering, a donor to President Todd Stroger, even though it was the most expensive of three bids.

Administrators argued the company was the most qualified, even though the other two bidders have experience working with either the county or the city of Chicago. Commissioner Tim Schneider of Bartlett had hotly opposed the award.

It was not clear if the design portion of the job will now be rescinded, or partially rescinded. County documents indicated 2 percent of the design work has already been completed.

Also rejected was a $2.3 million countywide assessment of the condition of all county buildings, the purchase of warehouse storage racks for the county clerk's electronic voting machines and other various capital project items.

But by and large, most of the items carved out for bonding passed as commissioners stayed into the evening trying to trim the fat. Commissioners, by law, must pass a 2009 budget by the end of the first fiscal quarter, which is Feb. 28.