Kane County likely to soften hiring-freeze plan, stop layoffs

Kane County Board members won't get their first peek at county department budgets until the end of this month, but Chairman Karen McConnaughay said she's not expecting any more bulk layoffs to address deficits.

Last week, McConnaughay recommended a hiring freeze, a 1.5 percent budget cut for all departments and a voluntary forgoing of pay raises for managers and elected officials. On Friday, the Kane County Health Department announced it would lay off 25 employees to solve its funding problems. Much of the health department's income woes stem from lost state funding and federal grants.

The only other departments that heavily rely on state and federal money for day-to-day operations are transportation and court services.

Most of the outside money that goes to the transportation department is used for capital improvements. McConnaughay said that means she doesn't expect any staffing issues in that department. She wasn't as sure about court services, which handles probation, electronic home monitoring and drug rehabilitation court.

McConnaughay said she has not seen a report on staff needs or budget forecasts from court services yet.

The chairman said she'll pitch an amendment to her call for a hiring freeze at the county board meeting on Tuesday. The amendment will mark a reprieve for county departments with sworn employees, mainly police and emergency staff.

County Board Member Jim Mitchell, of North Aurora, expressed concerns in a recent Executive Committee meeting that police, jail and emergency crews may not be the best place to lose staff. A hiring freeze also means forgetting about expanding the new, but already cramped, Kane County jail because more staff would be needed to police the additional inmates.

In response, McConnaughay will alter her call by asking departments with sworn staff to only fill staff openings as employees quit or retire. Like every other department, no new positions could be created or current vacancies filled.

The final county budget for 2009 won't be approved until November, which may permit for some help from the state if additional funding is released during the Illinois General Assembly's November veto session.

Asked, however, if she's expecting any money from the state, McConnaughay laughed.

"I would simply point out the ongoing need for the state to finally identify a capital projects budget and to identify a funding mechanism for the programs they are supposed to fund," McConnaughay said.