No stopping Kane Co. health department layoffs

Kane County Health Department employees will see no last-minute reprieve from layoffs as was hoped, a spokesman said Wednesday.

The county announced the layoff of 25 employees in September, but the loss of those jobs doesn't actually occur until Sunday, Nov. 30.

Health Department officials had slim hopes of saving those jobs if the Illinois General Assembly restored some funding during the fall veto session. Those hopes now are gone.

"It won't change," Health Department Spokesman Tom Schlueter said Wednesday.

The true number of employees laid off will be slightly less than 25 as a couple of the targeted staff members have quit in advance of the layoffs, Schlueter said.

Even if the funding came through it's unclear how many, if any, employees would have been spared. Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay said shortly after the layoffs were announced that the health department was in need of budget tightening regardless of the county's current fiscal problems.

The layoffs will mark the first time in at least 16 years the health department has had a forced staff reduction.

The new county budget calls for cuts across the board and a hiring freeze, but no additional layoffs in any departments are slated.