State office found $4.5 million for Cook

By no fault of The Daily Herald, your Nov. 19 story titled “Cook County Board OK’s $2.9 billion budget” omitted critical facts. President Toni Preckwinkle’s “announcement” as reported claiming credit for the 80 jobs that were saved in the state’s attorney’s and public defender’s offices was incomplete. Unfortunately, the “announcement” reported entirely omitted any reference to the fact that those funds resulted from the hard work of the Office of the Public Administrator — a state office.

Our small and grossly underfunded staff investigates and probates the estates of certain deceased residents of Cook County. This office is responsible for the protection and collection of those funds for the distribution to their intended beneficiaries including, when appropriate, Cook County. It is because of the efforts of my 20 employees that those $4.5 million (from a record $9.3 million total generated) in funds were collected and deposited into the Unknown Heir’s Fund, which Preckwinkle’s “bipartisan coalition” subsequently identified as available budget revenue. Any claim that a “bipartisan coalition” identified that funding — which was literally put in front of them by this office — fails to mention that those funds were collected and deposited solely as a result of the hard work and efforts of my staff.

This office is one of the few revenue-generating and only self-funded offices serving the county. This is not being noted to claim credit for myself, but to clarify the record in recognizing those good employees of the Public Administrator’s Office whose dedication and hard work collected the $4.5 million now used to fund other important county offices.

Nicholas G. Grapsas

Cook County Public Administrator