Daily Herald opinion: Cook County budgeting more reliable and transparent, but still requires scrutiny

By now, it should come as no surprise to see a Cook County budget proposal that is balanced, transparent and presented with sharp precision by a staff administrators who don't arouse your suspicions about what they are hiding but impress you with their confidence in what to expect in the years ahead, even if it may not be entirely rosy.

Longtime Cook County observers know only too well it has not always been so. And, though it ought not be that praiseworthy for an organization with an $8.8 billion spending plan to be able to present it professionally and clearly, one of the chief advantages when that becomes routine is that you can discuss its spending priorities on their actual merits or weaknesses.

That is the opportunity that faces Cook County taxpayers in the months ahead as County Board President Toni Preckwinkle's proposals make their way through public hearings and the County Board this summer and public town halls in October.

And there are issues worth examining closely. Perhaps the most urgent and dramatic are the county's plans for $1 billion in COVID relief funds from the federal government. Those include expenditures intended to improve equity in criminal justice, violence prevention, investments in infrastructure, housing, health and the environment and an experimental guaranteed income program.

But also worth reviewing are two particular areas: pensions and the funding gap.

In recent years, the county has been making higher contributions than the state requires to strengthen its pension fund, with an eye toward having pensions fully funded by 2047. A key toward reaching that goal, though, will be maintaining annual levels of contribution that extend through multiple administrations.

As for the funding gap, while at just under $86 million, the 2024 deficit is far more manageable than the more than $400 million gap seen at the height of the pandemic, the jolt from the $18.2 million gap this year is at least cause for concern. Preckwinkle plans to handle the discrepancy by taking advantage of the personnel savings that will come from the current labor shortage, a strategy that may be useful this year but cannot be sustained if the gap continues to edge higher.

For all these areas and more, for those interested in what's being done with their money, now is the time to begin examining the budget. In just over two weeks - on Tuesday, July 11 - residents will have the chance to present their ideas, questions and reactions directly to the president's office via social media, during a public hearing that will be livestreamed.

For an overview of the budget, go to www.cookcountyil.gov/Budget and to examine it in detail, go to https://budget.cookcountyil.gov/#!/year/default. You can send questions before the hearing by going online to www.cookcountyil.gov/service/submit-budget-questions.