President Preckwinkle and Mayor Emanuel Announce $70.9 Million In Savings and Revenue During Second Year of Collaboration

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Mayor Rahm Emanuel today announced that the City and County have identified more than $70 million in savings and revenue, as part of its City-County Collaboration. The City and County implemented 60 initiatives to eliminate duplicative services, coordinate enforcement and service delivery, and pursue joint contracts and grant applications. “For decades the city and county shared a hallway but rarely shared ideas and resources,” President Preckwinkle said. “I have been committed to opening the lines of communication between the city and the county from start of this administration. We have saved taxpayers millions almost entirely because our offices’ now have a coordinated partnership.” “Saving and protecting taxpayer resources is a critical focus of my administration, and through our partnership with the County we have cooperated in common sense ways to save money and increase revenue,” said Mayor Emanuel. “We will continue to work to improve our stewardship of taxpayer dollars, so we can collectively improve the quality of life for residents.” The City and County achieved the savings and enhanced revenue by cooperating in common sense ways, such as joint enforcement of cigarette tax violations, bulk purchasing of information technology and other equipment, and cooperating to secure grant funding instead of competing. In addition, the collaboration has also streamlined procurement and simplified the certification and renewal process for minority and women-owned businesses, created summer and after-school opportunities for students, and conducted joint training exercises for first responders and other emergency personnel. This year the partnership identified more than $37 million in savings and revenue. This was accomplished, in part, through initiatives in the following areas: Sharing Equipment, Services, or Facilities: $2.5 million in savings Joint Contracts: $2.9 million in savings Joint Enforcement: $11.8 million in new revenue Grants funds awarded due to collaboration: $10.1 million In March 2011, Mayor Emanuel and President Preckwinkle launched the collaboration effort and appointed the Joint Committee on City-County Collaboration to recommend ways the City and County could streamline services, improve residents’ interactions with government, and reduce costs. In June 2011, the joint committee issued a report that set a goal of achieving savings and new revenue of $66-$140 million by the end of 2014. By the end of the first year, the collaboration achieved $33.4 million of savings and new revenue. The City/County team continues to work with the joint committee to identify additional opportunities for collaboration. The members of the joint committee are: Gloria Castillo, Chicago United Deb DeHaas, Deloitte LLC Alderman Pat Dowell, 3rd Ward, City of Chicago Commissioner John Fritchey, 12th District, Cook County Board Ralph G. Moore, Ralph G. Moore & Associates (RGMA) Jorge Ramirez, Chicago Federation of Labor Juan Salgado, Instituto del Progreso Latino Paula Wolff, Metropolis Strategies