CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Top officials said Cook County government is recovering from the economic impact of the pandemic in fairly good shape. That means no new taxes or layoffs - at least for now.
Cook County's finance team projects $121 million budget shortfall next year, which is significant. But Chief Financial Officer Ammar Rizki said the gap was over $400 million last year.
"We had a $400 million gap last year, which we balanced the budget for; so there is no gap this year. Actually, we are projecting that we are going to be ending on a positive note for both our major funds: our general fund and our health fund," he said.
Budget Director Annette Guzman said one factor is spending less on personnel, and another factor is, "we are forecasting a positive variance in the general fund of just under $60 million by the end of this year, and that's driven by a higher than anticipated revenue."
Still when asked if there are any plans for new taxes or fees, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle was cautious.
"Not at this time; however, it remains to be seen where we will end up in our formal budget presentation, but not at this time," Preckwinkle said.
She said no layoffs are expected, and she said there may be more hiring.
"We are not anticipating layoffs. I think what's happened is, over the course of this pandemic, frankly, the efforts to try and bring new people on - I won't say ground to a halt, but we tried to keep our existing staff engaged," Preckwinkle said.
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