Kane Co. chairman candidates differ on spending, budget cuts

The two candidates for Kane County Board chairman agree tight budget times are here for the foreseeable future, but the factors making it worse is where incumbent Karen McConnaughay and challenger Sandy Kaczmarski clash.

The differences begin with the outlook for the present fiscal year's budget. McConnaughay said conservative estimates will see the county weather a downturn in almost all tax income for a final number "pretty close" to balanced budget expectations.

Kaczmarski said it's foolish to think the budget picture will improve anytime soon. She doesn't even believe this year's budget will be balanced. Kaczmarski said poor planning is also to blame for the current budget problem that's already seen layoffs in the health department. The new county jail is the prime example, she said. She wants to expand the jail now, but acknowledged that will be tricky during the current hiring freeze.

"They built the jail too small, then said that's all they could afford," Kaczmarski said. "Then why did you do it at all? To me, that creates more problems than it solves."

The county has spent more than twice the budget for housing inmates outside the county this fiscal year so far. McConnaughay said that's actually cheaper than opening the two floors of shell space at the jail to keep all the inmates in the county. Expansion will be necessary, McConnaughay said, but not when tax revenue won't support it.

"Successful jurisdictions manage overcrowding by building facilities that they can financially afford to manage," McConnaughay said. "They reduce costs because they move cases through the system faster."

McConnaughay said Kane County keeps inmates in jail longer than any other jurisdiction in the state, and that must improve.

This week, the county put out a draft budget for the next fiscal year that cuts spending by 1.5 percent across the board through attrition. McConnaughay said that shows she'll keep spending down in tight times and avoid more layoffs.

"I think it's very doable," she said. "Maybe you don't buy a truck this year, you delay capital plans, have less travel, don't do as many meetings. We're not at a point where massive layoffs have been necessary. If tough decisions must be made, I will make them."

Kaczmarski said McConnaughay has failed to make the easy decisions that would make the budget situation better.

"All you have to do is look and see consultant fees have tripled and Karen loves to hire consultants," she said.

Kaczmarski pointed out she'd cut back on the consultants the county uses. However, there's no way to guarantee more layoffs aren't necessary down the road.

"I hope there don't have to be any, but the numbers just don't add up," Kaczmarski said. "There may have to be some, but I'm going to work very hard to keep that to a minimum."