Russell, Kramer look to wrap fiscal year with tidy budgets

At the beginning of the year, financial projections made it seem like Kane County Sheriff Don Kramer and Coroner Rob Russell would be personally responsible for raising local taxes. Instead, end-of-year numbers fueled I-told-you-so moments for both officials.

The numbers show Kramer's office might finish the year with a deficit as small as less than 1 percent of his budget, or around $21,400. And Russell will likely close his books with a budget surplus as large as $6,000.

Asked if the concerns about his office's finances were much ado about nothing, Russell nodded enthusiastically.

"I think that's a good way to put it," Russell said. "We've worked hard. The board can't say it's all the stuff that they've done that's gotten us to this point. I laid people off at the start of the year before they started this craziness. My hope is that we can move on in 2016."

Maybe not. There's still a sentiment among several county officials that Russell's budget numbers never would have shaped up without their criticism of his spending and use of a county credit card.

There's also a union contract with Russell's employees that's been waiting for a county board vote since August. Russell believes the contract will help end the current practice of "double-paying" his employees via overtime and a per diem.

Other county officials indicated Thursday they believe the raises called for over the life of the contract may be an unsustainable cost. Details of the contract will become public at a Dec. 21 meeting.

Kramer, meanwhile, said his office's revenue-generating numbers vindicate what he's been saying all along about his budget.

"The previous administration did not project the revenues for my office as appropriately as they could have," Kramer said. "I projected coming in that revenues would be about $780,000 in the red. Well, we're right there," he said.

Much of that income loss stems from a decline in fees associated with home foreclosure duties.

"I personally think it's a fantastic thing that we had to do less foreclosures," Kramer said. "Eviction fees suffered, but that is a positive thing for our community."

Kramer said his decision to cancel the $2.2 million contract to house federal inmates at the county jail is still "a touchy subject."

However, he believes the numbers show the true income loss was closer to $1 million.

The losses in fees are amounts that were mostly made up with some basic belt-tightening, he said.

"In the end, we have a better ratio of correctional officers to inmates, " Kramer said. "We have a better environment for our inmates. And we have a better environment for the officers."

Both Kramer and Russell report to board member Cristina Castro's committee. She said the process hasn't been pretty, and the perspectives are certainly different, but the outcome is what the taxpayers want.

"What we saw this year is that, if we all work together, we can solve problems," Castro said. "No one is out to get anybody. So I'm glad they've seen the light, so to speak."