Dart: I Can't Slash Budget For Jails, Courts
CHICAGO (WBBM) -- Cook County is facing its own fiscal problems, but one top county official says he's not going to be able to cut spending as much as Board President Toni Preckwinkle would like.
WBBM's Bernie Tafoya reports that Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart's budget for the past year has been $700 million, for running county jail, protecting the courthouses and policing suburban areas.
He says he will propose cuts in his budget but nothing like the 21 percent that Preckwinkle first suggested after taking office.
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"The reality is a federal court has said we don't have enough people there [at county jail]." Dart said. "We're talking about dramatic cuts that have been put out there. We have to have some connection to reality. We're not acting as if we're all running the same furniture store and can do the same thing."
Some other top county officials have promised to make dramatic spending cuts for their offices. Dart says there has to be a reality check in the president's office.
"What is it we're looking to do here?," Dart said. "Do you want me to begin shutting the jail down every other day? Send everyone home and ask them to come back? Want me to end all my police functions? All the things we're working on to suppress gangs in suburban Cook County? Tell the suburbs that miraculously my magic wand has removed all the gang problems and you're on your own now folks?"
Preckwinkle must propose a county budget next month.
