No input from Kane sheriff to finance panel on $500K budget cuts
Kane County Board leaders cut another $500,000 Wednesday from Sheriff Don Kramer's budget, picking the line items because Kramer has not.
And again, the sheriff did not attend the finance committee meeting on the topic.
"It's like (the movie) 'Groundhog Day' at the meetings. Every month we come up with another issue," committee Chairman John Hoscheit said. "The challenge is we don't get feedback."
The county board is trying to eliminate a deficit of at least $2.5 million in the sheriff's budget, caused mainly by cancellation of a contract to house federal inmates at the county jail. Kramer canceled the contract with the U.S. Marshals Service shortly after taking office in December.
"I hope that going forward that we have some more answers for this at judicial (and public safety committee)," board member Theresa Barreiro said Wednesday. "We can't force him to take these specific line items - but he really needs to come to the table to help us out."
State law gives the sheriff the ability to spend money how he sees fit. The county board decides only how much he gets.
In Kramer's absence, the committee followed the recommendations of county Finance Director Joe Onzick, who suggested cutting spending on items where Kramer is already spending less than what had been budgeted.
The 31 line items that added up to $500,000 in cuts include fuel, vehicle maintenance and repairs, jail clothing, jail medical and dental services, supplies including ammunition, and office items, as well as spending for police dogs, special tactical teams, anti-drug use programs, and the community-oriented policing program.
The largest adjustments were the fuel costs and in health care insurance contributions for employees working at the jail.
Onzick based them on how much the sheriff's office has spent in the first four months of the fiscal year.
Onzick also noted that as of Wednesday night, overtime pay for correctional workers is still running over the amended budget. After Kramer canceled the U.S. Marshals contract, the board amended the overtime pay budget to zero. Kramer has spent $163,049.
Kramer had cited overtime costs as one reason for ending the federal contract.
He did not respond to a call and an email seeking comment.
Onzick also said the sheriff has hired a finance person, but he has met the person only once, at a training seminar on a record-keeping system the sheriff's office uses.
Onzick said Kramer told him April 7 that there was room in the budget for $500,000 to $750,000 in cuts. Onzick said he asked for specifics but did not get a reply.
At a judicial and public safety meeting two weeks ago, Onzick said Kramer told him the budgeted revenue was "grossly" overstated. The budget was developed during the term of former Sheriff Pat Perez. Onzick said that aside from a decrease in foreclosure-related fees, the 2015 budget was only $15,000 off from what was actually spent in 2014.
That's telling, board Chairman Chris Lauzen said.
"I sense from intuition that the statement that it is 'grossly overprojected' is not accurate," Lauzen said. An analysis by Onzick "in a very thorough way showed that it was not overprojected."
Revenues are $178,000 less than budget so far for property foreclosure-related fees. Lauzen said it may be that there are simply fewer foreclosures to process.
But he suspects otherwise.
"If it is that work is not being done in that area (foreclosure), what are the foundational actions that have to take place in work to get that done? Is there possibly a backlog developing?" Lauzen asked.
Hoscheit said after the meeting that he is hopeful that once the sheriff's new finance person is acclimated, the county board and the sheriff will be able to work together on the financial issues.
Kramer missed this month and the prior month's judicial and public safety committee meetings. He did not attend the last month's county board meeting.