October 8, 2013

Mayor Emanuel and President Preckwinkle Announce $70.9 Million in Total Savings and New Revenue Achieved as Second Year of Collaboration Comes to a Close

City and County Exceed Goal Ahead of Schedule While Delivering Service Improvements

Mayor's Press Office    312.744.3334

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Mayor Rahm Emanuel today announced that at the two-year mark of the City-County Collaboration, the City and County have identified more than $70 million in savings or new revenue as part of their Collaboration.  The City and County reached this milestone by implementing 60 initiatives to eliminate duplicative services, identify new efficiencies through coordinated enforcement and service delivery, and leverage economies of scale pursue joint procurements and grant applications. 

“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.”

“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.”

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 to delivering new savings and revenue, the Collaboration has also streamlined procurement processes and simplified the certification and renewal procedure process for minority and women-owned businesses, created summer and afterschool opportunities for youth, cracked down on illegal tobacco sales to minors, 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

“As a member of the Joint Committee, I am proud to have worked with the collaboration team to deliver savings and improve services for residents in my ward and taxpayers across the City,” said Alderman Pat Dowell. “Collaboration is changing the way business is done in City Hall and we are just getting started.”

To read the entire report, click here: http://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/mayor/supp_info/CityCountyReport2013.pdf.

 

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