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Speakers urge Cook County board to shift funds from policing to violence-prevention and preserve nonprofit tax relief
Summary
Public commenters at the Cook County Board meeting urged the county to reallocate money from sheriff and state's attorney budgets toward violence-prevention, behavioral health and community services; nonprofits urged renewal of the Class L property tax exemption. Speakers cited falling jail populations and existing county investments as reasons to rebalance spending.
Public commenters at the Cook County Board of Commissioners' meeting on Nov. 1 urged the board to shift county dollars away from law enforcement and toward violence-prevention, behavioral health and community services, and asked the board to preserve nonprofit tax relief that local organizations rely on.
CMD Chime, an organizer with Southside Organizer Organized for Unity and Liberation, told commissioners that "the budgets are moral documents that show us what the government officials truly value," and urged the board to "protect funding for essential services like violence prevention, behavioral health, and community investment" rather than increasing law-enforcement spending. Chime cited what they described as recent growth in law-enforcement budgets and said the county has invested about $350,000,000 in violence-prevention programs that have helped reduce crime.
Niall Wendorff, who said he serves on the board of the Nineteenth Century Charitable Association in Oak Park, asked the board to continue the Class L property-tax exemption that his nonprofit relies on. "We have over 20,000 people come into our building annually," Wendorff said, arguing the exemption helps nonprofits maintain facilities and host community programs.
Several other speakers made related points. Corey Moore of the People's Lobby described a decade-long decline in the Cook County Jail population and credited investments in prevention and social services for reductions in crime, saying, "I'm asking you to invest in people, not punishment." Hosea Gray of Country Club Hills called attention to rising tax burdens in the South Suburbs and urged reassessment of county taxing and assessment practices to lower homeowners' bills.
Speakers also raised allegations and frustrations about the courts and recordkeeping. One commenter urged the board to add court stenographers and stronger record-keeping, arguing the absence of transcripts in some probate and civil matters enables abuses; that commenter called for accountability among judicial and county officials.
The public-comment period concluded under the meeting's three-minute time limits. Board members did not take immediate formal action in response to the comments during public comment, but several items later on the agenda related to public-safety spending, housing alternatives and behavioral-health planning were approved by the board.
