Kane Co. State's Attorney hopes to avoid layoffs

Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti says his office will try to avoid layoffs despite facing a potential budget cut of 5.5 percent.

Barsanti said Tuesday he was instructed to come up with a plan to slash about $250,000 from his budget by Friday. The reduction could be approved as part of the county budget as early as next month.

"My goal is not to lay anybody off," Barsanti said. "And I think we can work this so we don't."

Barsanti's office employs 137 people with an annual budget of about $7 million. Of that, the county supplies roughly $4 million, while the rest comes from grants for programs related to child advocacy, domestic violence and other categories.

Barsanti said he intends to look to furloughs, early retirements, pay cuts and attrition in an effort to shore up the bottom line without anyone losing a job.

"I'm not ruling out any of that," he said.

The trouble is, Barsanti said he expects the budget situation to be even worse next year, when property tax revenue begins to reflect the current economy.

"We're all looking at the long haul here," he said.