Barrington mayor calls opponent's claims 'misleading'

Barrington Village President Karen Darch says a mailer distributed by challenger Mike Kozel attacking her financial record is misleading.

The mailer states that because of "out-of-control spending," the village's debt has soared from $29.2 million to $56.4 million in just one year.

However, the increase is mostly a result of a major change in how government debt is reported.

This is the first year that small municipalities like Barrington have to report their unfunded pension liability as outstanding debt. The change is the result of a reform introduced by Governmental Accounting Standards Board, a private organization that sets standards for state and local government financial reporting.

Last year, the village, following GASB rules, reported about $29.2 million in debt and $13.3 million in pension liability separately, according to village documents.

This year, the village reported approximately $33.6 million in debt and $22.8 million in pension liability. Under the new rules, they combined those figures and reported a total debt of $56.4 million.

The $7.7 million increase is the result of bonds the village issued to fund a downtown sewer replacement project that will start this year.

GASB spokesman Kip Betz said the change gives taxpayers a better understanding of how much money their government has promised to pay. The pension number always was reported, but not on the same page of the financial summary.

"Now it looks like they're in a terrible financial state. Well, that's not true," Betz said. "Nothing has changed ... it was kind of buried in the notes before."

Kozel on Monday stood by his assertions that Barrington's spending is out of control, citing the money spent on the Barrington White House and Barrington Village Center projects.

"Why are we spending money on projects and yet we're falling behind on our debt?" Kozel asked. "We're losing ground on paying down pension debt."

Darch said Kozel is misleading residents into thinking the village is in poor financial shape.

"The opposite is true," Darch said. "Barrington is paying down its debt and funding its pensions well."

According to the Cook County treasurer's office, Barrington's pension obligations are 70.1 percent funded. which is ahead of Hoffman Estates at 62.4 percent, Palatine at 59.2 percent and Lake Zurich at 57.1 percent.