Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle and Mayor Rahm Emanuel announce the results of joint city-county committee report

Today Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle and Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the results of a joint city-county committee, outlining a path to historic levels of City and County collaboration in order to reduce cost and improve services for residents. “This report is a blueprint for reform. It paves the way for a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the City and County in order to more efficiently deliver our residents with the best services for the best price,” said Mayor Emanuel. “This is only the beginning; President Preckwinkle and I are committed to this unprecedented partnership and we want to be held accountable as we implement these recommendations.” The report found that increasing City-County collaboration can save taxpayers up to $140 million per year by 2014. Clear cost savings identified by the committee include: Streamlining custodial services: $11 to $23 million Centralizing energy management: $9 to $23 million Expanding joint purchasing: $12 to $24 million “For decades our two governments have shared a hallway but never has the City and County seen such a clear and coordinated partnership like this,” said President Preckwinkle. “Together, Mayor Emanuel and I will have transparent, accountable, and objective measures to ensure our joint efforts are best serving our residents.” The 7-member joint committee, comprised of a diverse group of non-profit, community and business leaders, worked on a pro-bono basis with both City and County staff and the Civic Consulting Alliance. At President Preckwinkle’s and Mayor Emanuel’s request, the committee will take a deeper look at how the City and County can integrate their health clinic systems and improve services to the people of Chicago.