Kane County department heads offer little help in cutting budget

As the last department heads came to the table to discuss their plan to cut their own budgets it became clear county officials had brought a chisel to a job that required dynamite.

One by one, from court officials to police to the coroner, each department head made the case why their budget simply can't be cut another 5.5 percent without drastic consequences. At the end of the day, the county had only made about $800,000 worth of trims toward a $3.8 million gutting.

Almost none of the elected department heads, except the chief judge, presented scenarios involving furloughs. The arguments against them were: Courtrooms would close, crime would increase, defendants wouldn't be properly represented, employees are already paid too little to be asked to take a pay cut in the form of a furlough, or straight salary reduction for that matter. Instead, layoffs were more prominently discussed. Anywhere from eight circuit clerk employees to six public defenders was suggested, but all with even more dire versions of the repercussions already listed for furloughs.

"I could cut my budget by two-thirds if I didn't have a second and third shift, but I think anarchy would rule," a half-joking Sheriff Pat Perez said.

Some officials, like Coroner Chuck West, simply said he can't find anywhere else to trim his budget.

"Quite honestly, I'm pretty lost at what I can do," West said. "I don't know how I can currently cut staff."

In effect, that puts the onus back on the county board to make the cuts by slashing the money departments receive and leaving it to department heads to dole out the consequences.

"We don't have the money to give to you," said board member Jerry Jones, of Aurora. "We're not cutting the budget; we're telling you this is the money we have to give."

The last hope may come in the form of an ad hoc committee Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay said she's forming to explore any potential savings through voluntary early retirements. McConnaughay said the "voluntary" part of the offering is why department heads need to look at their budgets as if it may not help at all because there's no way to know how many employees would opt for early retirement. If that doesn't bear significant savings, county board members already indicated they'll make the cuts and not pay the bills for departments that go over budget.

"I know that every budget in this county can get cut 5.5 percent," said board member Cathy Hurlbut, of Elgin. "In my mind we should stick to our guns."