The city and county could save up to $140 million a year by working together to deliver services and oversee programs, according to a new report released today.
It comes from a seven-member city-county committee on collaboration, set up in March, that was led by top staffers for Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Outside financial firms provided free consulting services.
The 100-page report offers a host of ways to save between $66 million and $140 million by pooling resources and eliminating duplicative services, much as other governments in major areas have done around the country in previous years. It also concludes that services would improve as a result.
But it would take three years to implement many of the ideas, and the anticipated 2012 budget shortfalls for the two governments, which spend a combined $11 billion a year, dwarf any savings. Combined, the two governments anticipate shortfalls of $1 billion, much of it at the city.
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