Two of Chicago`s most prominent civic groups criticized the Cook County Board Tuesday for engaging in budget maneuvers to fund more than $30 million in overtime cost overruns and to hire part-time patronage employees.
Citing an increase of 73 percent in the county property tax levy since 1986, the Civic Federation and Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry also criticized some board members and Chief Judge Harry Comerford of Circuit Court for poor planning in urging the purchase of a planned North Loop skyscraper at a cost of at least $121.9 million to allow expansion of the courts and county offices.
During a public hearing on the board`s proposed $1.6 billion budget, the Civic Federation also urged that funding for the county superintendent of schools be eliminated at a saving of $1.6 million.
Meanwhile, police chiefs from Schaumburg, Bellwood and Stone Park urged the board to provide Sheriff James O`Grady with $803,592 for a 30-member suburban gang crimes and narcotics unit to coordinate information among various suburbs and help smaller communities deal with gang problems.
Board President George Dunne has refused to include the money in his proposed 1990 budget and reiterated his opposition Tuesday, contending that the necessary sharing of information can be accomplished through use of an existing statewide computer hookup among police departments.
The Civic Federation said money for overtime and part-time patronage employees has increased more than 50 percent since 1986, without counting huge overtime expenditures at County Hospital. The federation urged the board to slash those budget items back to 1986 levels as well as eliminate all positions that are vacant for more than six months. The federation said the county had 200 vacancies among its 23,827 slotted positions in 1989.
Sam Mitchell, president of the Association of Commerce and Industry, said the board deliberately provides full funding for positions that it knows will remain vacant to have excess money to use during the year to pay for overruns in its overtime and part-timer funds.
Mitchell said $58 million in such funds transfers were made last year, of which $45.6 million came from personnel accounts, and were used ”in great measure to pay for overtime and additional employees.” County expenditures for overtime and part-timers totaled $41.2 million last year, an overrun of more than $30 million beyond the amount budgeted, Mitchell said.
He said the $58 million in fund transfers was more than double the transfer total of $26.7 million in 1988.
Because of a nursing shortage, County Hospital led in overtime payments with $22.5 million, but other units of county government also ran up substantial totals, records show.
Mitchell also criticized the county for not cracking down on sick day abuses, saying that employees ”take a sick day per month as a right.” By using their sick days, along with four personal days and their vacations, employees can get four weeks off a year.
Mitchell said the $34,000 cost of the salary and benefits for the county`s average employee exceeds the latest private industry figure of $29,702. He also cited a 58.6 percent increase in employee hospitalization costs since 1987 and urged the board to negotiate with unions to force employees to pay more of the cost.
The Civic Federation and Mitchell criticized Comerford and the board for considering the purchase of prime office space across the street from the Daley Center before a two-year survey of court needs by the National Center for State Courts gets underway.
Both organizations, as well as the League of Women Voters of Cook County and Cook County Court Watchers Inc., accused the board of a lack of centralized planning in its criminal justice system as well as its computer operations and capital projects planning.
Supporting suburban gang crimes and narcotics units were Police Chiefs Kenneth Alley of Schaumburg, Richard Eastham of Bellwood and Seymour Sapoznik of Stone Park.
