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PROPOSED AGREEMENT
Department(s): Cook County Assessor’s Office
Other Part(ies): University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, Chicago, Illinois 60637
Request: Authorization to enter into an interagency agreement
Good(s) or Service(s): Applied Data Fellowship Agreement
Agreement period: Effective upon Board of Commissioner’s approval
Fiscal Impact: $60,000
Accounts: 11000.1040.13945.520840.00000.00000
Agreement Number(s): N/A
Summary/Notes: The Cook County Assessor’s Office (CCAO) seeks to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the University of Chicago for the provision of a data science fellow to work a one-year fellowship with the office. This is an extension of University of Chicago’s Applied Data Fellowship currently in place in the Office of the President and the Cook County Sheriff’s Department.
As the CCAO becomes more data driven in its approach to producing fair, equitable and transparent assessments, data science is leading the way in how we craft models and assessment policy. Under the new Assessor, Fritz Kaegi, the CCAO has developed a new Data Science department, under the leadership of Chief Data Officer, Rob Ross. Chief among the goals of this new department is to make assessment valuations more predictable and certain by modeling the considerations that go into valuing real property.
University of Chicago will supply a recent graduate of their graduate school who is an expert in the area of data science to work on projects with our Chief Data Officer and data team that will continue the work of modeling fair and equitable assessments. The County has seen great results in developing data driven policies with the assistance of fellows hired under the Applied Data Fellows program. We believe that the Assessor’s office will greatly benefit from the assistance of a data fellow.
As you will see, the annual cost of this partnership with University of Chicago will cost $60,000. However, and most importantly, we are not asking for any additional funding from the Board of Commissioners for this annual fellowship program. The cost of this project has already been incorporated into our 2020 budget.
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