Every year your Cook County government budgets and spends more than $3 billion. Your County's budget impacts your life every day. All of its funding comes from you - your sales and property taxes, your purchase fees on gas and other goods. All of its spending exists to support you, too. County funding drives the forest preserve district, the jail, public hospitals and clinics, the Cook County courts and dozens of other civic institutions designed to make our region prosperous, efficient and fair.

Yet too many residents don't understand what Cook County government is or what it does. They keep asking, "where exactly does our money go?"

Commissioner John Fritchey created this budget transparency tool to answer that question, but it's only a first step. We need your help. What questions do you have about County spending? What do you want to know about the County budget that this visualization isn't explaining to you? What do you think of our spending? What can we do to make Cook County government better?