Here is how it looks currently for the 2009 budget for the Office of the Public Defender. Edwin Burnette submitted an initial budget proposal for 2009 to Todd Stroger for $60.7 million, about $9 million more than our 2008 budget appropriation. Todd Stroger cut Ed’s initial proposal to about $54 million. In the meantime, Stroger required Ed to present 3 alternative budgets, which included cuts of 4%, 5%, and 6%. Ed decided to structure each of these alternative budgets so that the entire amount of cuts to the office came from attorney salaries- for instance, for the alternative 4% budget, all 4% of Ed’s proposed cuts come from a reduction of the number of attorney positions in the Office.
Last week, the Finance Committee of the Cook County Board rejected Stroger’s bond proposal, and instead agreed on a budget with 4% cuts. To the Public Defender budget, that means a cut from Stroger’s proposed 2009 budget of about $54 million, to a budget of about $51.8 million. This triggers Ed’s alternative budget submission with cuts to attorney positions.
The Union has urged Ed to alter his plan for how to cut $2.1 million (4%) from the budget of the Office and prevent the loss of attorney positions. The following cuts in the Public Defender budget for 2009 should occur before any Assistant Public Defenders lose their jobs: $150,000 for vehicle purchases, and $750,000 for office equipment. Further, all vacant positions can be kept open and not eliminated by funding them at the $1 level. We believe that when you combine these savings, with savings in other areas the Union has suggested to Ed, our Office can limp through this budget season without layoffs.
