Cook County Finds $90M Bookkeeping Error

Cook County's new financial management team recently discovered a $90 million dollar mistake during its current 2010 external audit process.

Under former County Board President Todd Stroger, Cook County double counted $90 million in revenue. However, the error was strictly bookkeeping and won't force the county to take drastic measures to find millions of extra dollars.

"We are currently in the process of cleaning up our financial house," said County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in a statement explaining the error. "It is in commitment to transparency and accountability to the residents of Cook County that I am putting out this statement."

Preckwinkle said the $90 million came from duplicate journal entries for a $66 million dollar sales tax revenue and a $24 million dollar cigarette tax.

The employee responsible for the error, Faisal Abbasi, was terminated earlier this year and on Monday was replaced by Reshma Soni.

"We are taking every step necessary to correct the error and instill more accountable financial reporting," Preckwinkle said. 

Preckwinkle expects the fund balance for 2010 will remain positive and the error will not have an adverse impact on the county's budget in 2011. 

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