Cook County hears detailed YMCA operations briefing; county staff outline 2024 subsidy and shared utilities costs

The Cook County Board of Commissioners on June 10 received an informational briefing from the Cook County Community YMCA on membership counts, programs and capital needs, followed by a county summary of the 2024 costs to maintain the YMCA facility.

The YMCA presentation was given by Alex (YMCA director), who said the branch has 1,549 members and 1,026 membership units and that a third of the units are insurance-backed programs such as SilverSneakers and Renew Active. “We gave out 35 or 34,000, in those scholarships and those financial assistance,” Alex said, referring to scholarship dollars funded by YMCA fundraising.

The briefing included program counts and usage figures important to the board’s stewardship review. Alex reported about 26,000 check-ins in the last six months and roughly 1,200 unique check-ins in that period; he said roughly one in 10 memberships uses financial assistance. Administrator Rena Rogers then reviewed the county’s payments connected with the building operations and maintenance, saying that 2024 YMCA expenditures were $324,949 and that, after subtracting the city contribution of $118,680 and other offsets, “what the county actually contributed last year was $206,000. $206,269.”

Why it matters: the YMCA runs programs the county views as community infrastructure — child care, swim lessons, senior fitness and lifeguard training for local outfitters — while the county shares some costs for utilities, maintenance and contracted services for the jointly used facility. The count of membership, program delivery and grant-funded work help commissioners evaluate whether the county’s support represents value for taxpayers.

Most important details: Alex said the branch provided 14 year-long free youth memberships targeted through school partnerships, supported 79 youth at summer day camp last year, and certified 75 lifeguards in recent weeks. He described grant-funded capital work (playground and child-care bathroom improvements), naming the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) and Lloyd K. Johnson as funders for current playground work and noting a $30,000 capital project for childcare bathrooms.

Rogers outlined how the county’s share breaks down. She said county personnel costs recorded when county staff perform work for the YMCA (for example HVAC or pool repairs) are billed back and that utilities are paid in part to the city public utilities commission and in part to the school district because the YMCA addition shares HVAC. Rogers described a large portion of utilities expense as pool heating: “It’s 114,000 a year. That’s heating that whole building, but it’s also heating a pool.”

Board questions focused on finance, transparency and program outcomes. Commissioner Gamble thanked the YMCA for a thorough report and asked for a clearer breakdown of the roughly $960,000 operating budget into earned revenue versus gifts and grants; he later asked for comparative benchmarks the YMCA is using. Gamble and others also discussed how insurance-based memberships are reimbursed, clarifying that reimbursement is paid per visit up to a monthly cap (Alex: “we still get reimbursed per visit. It’s just the 12 maxes out”).

Commissioner Sullivan and others praised the YMCA’s role in youth programming and lifeguard training for outfitters. Commissioners pressed on childcare capacity, where Alex said staffing limits infant and toddler classroom utilizations (infant and toddler rooms full; preschool room 7 of 10) and noted the branch recently earned a four-star Parent Aware rating.

What’s next: the presentation was informational only; no action was requested. Commissioners and staff said they want future comparative and revenue-split detail (percent operations earned vs. percent from gifts/grants) to better evaluate county support when the county reviews the custodial contract and other operating agreements.

Ending note: several commissioners praised the YMCA’s fundraising and partnership activity and asked staff and YMCA leadership to continue refining budget-level comparables and program metrics to aid future stewardship decisions.