DuPage may cut 200 employees

More than 200 DuPage County employees may soon trade their offices for appointments at the DuPage Career Center as a new budget plan calls for their termination.

County board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom today is expected to unveil the layoff plans during his budget presentation.

On Monday, Schillerstrom told reporters the layoffs are needed to avoid significant deficit spending. The county is facing an estimated $20 million shortfall.

"The budget that I'm going to present is a budget that I don't want to present, but that I think I have to," Schillerstrom said. "I don't see any options today or tomorrow."

Those sentiments came as the state legislature's veto session closed Friday, killing the county board's dreams of a cigarette tax hike unless the proposal is revived in a special session before Dec. 1, the start of the county's fiscal year.

Schillerstrom's proposed spending plan calls for most of the layoffs to involve law enforcement personnel. Public health employees would see most of the remaining layoffs.

There also will be no raises.

Schillerstrom said it would be up to department heads to decide which employees are terminated.

"The elected officials are probably not going to be happy about it, and they shouldn't be happy about it because I'm not happy about it," Schillerstrom said.

But DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett said layoffs are not even an option for him, the sheriff's office or the local court system.

"It would mean not even doing the bare minimum that is required by law," Birkett said. "Probation will become a joke. The youth home will shut down. Courtrooms will have to be shut down because we can't staff them."

Schillerstrom recognized the budget requests from Birkett and other department heads are all reasonable.

But time is up to present a budget, and there just isn't enough money to accommodate even reasonable requests, he said.

Asked if it would be reasonable for DuPage residents to expect an increase in crime because of the layoffs, Schillerstrom said the loss of jobs would hurt services throughout the county.

"These cuts will have a negative impact on public safety," Schillerstrom said. "There's no way to spin these (layoffs) in a positive way."

Birkett said the layoffs represent the lack of a realistic plan from Schillerstrom and the county board.

Birkett challenged Schillerstrom and board members to ask voters for a $40 million public safety sales tax increase on nonessential goods.

"They didn't want to put it on the ballot because they are afraid of having that used against them in a political campaign," Birkett said. "This is an easy tax increase to defend. A strong criminal justice system is one of the reasons people move to this county."

Birkett wasn't alone in expressing frustration.

Circuit Court Clerk Chris Kachiroubas said his office already has cut 17 employees and made a "bare-bones" budget request.

Kachiroubas said he's waiting to hear the specific plan. But, he said, any significant cuts could mean 40-minute waits for customer service at best and the shuttering of his office for part of the year at worst.

"Wow," Kachiroubas said. "I'm a little shocked at this point. I'm not looking forward to what Mr. Schillerstrom says about these cuts."

The DuPage Convalescent Center also could face further layoffs, following the loss of 20 employees earlier this year.

Schillerstrom said the additional layoffs mean the center will be dangerously close to no longer functioning the way it historically has.

Overall, the layoffs would represent the loss of about 15 percent of the county's work force.

Schillerstrom is expected to provide more details about specific departmental impacts today.