County budget hole nearly doubles to $170 million from June estimate: ‘We didn’t have the hard figures on costs’

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle (second from left) meets with the Sun-Times Editorial Board in 2019. Pictured (from left) are then Budget Director Tanya Anthony, Preckwinkle, then Chief Financial Officer Ammar M. Rizki and Chief of Staff Lanetta Haynes Turner. (Rich Hein/Sun-Times file)

Cook County government expects its projected budget gap to nearly double next year due to pay hikes for its roughly 19,000 employees. 

In June, county leaders said they expected to start the 2024 budget year with an $86 million gap — one of the smallest financial holes in the last decade. But now that gap is expected to swell to about $170 million, county Chief Financial Officer Tanya Anthony revealed during a budget hearing Tuesday.