The capital budget is used to address the critical infrastructure needs of the County from road improvements to technology and the construction of new facilities. Exhaustive criteria is used to identify which capital projects the County will invest in each year and such projects are predominately funded through sources outside of the operating budget like debt issued by the County.

Cook County receives revenue from multiple sources like property taxes, fines, fees and even the auctioning of surplus equipment. The total amount of money collected each year is what is used to cover the costs of County services.

It is the County's fiscal policy to provice a balanced budget each year. Expenditures are County costs ranging from payroll to paperclips. Like a balanced checkbook, the total expenditures match the total revenue collected in a fiscal year.