President Toni Preckwinkle gives her 2024 budget address in October 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Cook County is projecting a $218.2 million budget gap for Fiscal Year 2025, county officials said Tuesday, and although County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said she wouldn’t speculate much about how she intends to close the gap before the fall, she said taxes, fees and layoffs were not on the table.

The board president expressed confidence in the county's finance team to construct balanced budget plan as usual and said she wasn't losing sleep over the upcoming budget.