Kane County Clerk's office taken to task over spending

For months the Kane County Clerk staff told media and public officials it would cost them up to $500,000 to hold the special election that filled Congressman Dennis Hastert's seat.

On Monday, the office said it doesn't actually know how much it cost.

That quickly drew the wrath of the county board's finance committee as members grilled almost every department coming in over budget this fiscal year.

With the books still open for another month, the county will close the fiscal year about $3 million over budget. The clerk's office is responsible for roughly a third of the overage.

Chief Deputy Clerk Jay Bennett Jr. told county board members the special election is the main reason the office went over budget.

But when asked for details, Bennett could say only the special election was responsible for "the greater portion" of the overruns. The cost of the special election was "expensive," Bennett said.

Greater detail of the costs is difficult to calculate, Bennett said, because the staff was preparing for the November general election at the same time it prepared for the unexpected special election. Hours and materials were not segregated between the two elections.

County board members told Bennett that kind of explanation isn't good enough for a couple of reasons. First, the county hopes to petition the state to pick up special election costs in the future. Making that plea without numbers to show the cost won't help the cause.

Second, if the clerk's office can't show the true costs, the county board never will be able to prepare adequately should another special election be necessary.

"When you're spending money, you should be able to determine how much it cost to do what you did," said Aurora Democrat Gerald Jones. "It's just unacceptable to say you don't know what it cost."

County budget guru Cheryl Pattelli said her own review of the numbers shows the special election cost between $300,000 and $400,000, a bit less than the $500,000 high-end cost the clerk's office made public. Bennett said the clerk's projections were strictly best guesses at the time.

The finance committee directed Bennett to come back with a better analysis as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the largest culprit behind the budget overage hits center stage Thursday. Staff members who run the new county jail will be asked to explain why it cost more than $2 million to detain inmates in other facilities. The new jail was supposed to eliminate that need.