True deficit, consultant money add to Kane County budget tension

Tension and the temptation to point fingers is mounting as Kane County officials continue a slow march toward making budget cuts that will directly impact the wallets of its employees.

This week that tension became more visible as spats broke out over details that ordinarily do not move to the forefront of discussions in county meetings.

The first sign came with a debate about locking in the expected number for the budget deficit this year with a resolution that specifically tags it at "approximately $3.9 million."

Board member Barb Wojnicki, of St. Charles, said she didn't feel comfortable setting that number in stone.

"I can't turn to a taxpayer and say $3.9 million to be the true and correct number," she said.

Wojnicki wanted to reframe the resolution to say more clearly that the $3.9 million is only a best guess at present. However, County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay told her that's not true because the $3.9 million is an accurate extension of the revenue losses the county has already seen halfway through the current fiscal year. In the end, the budget resolution retained the $3.9 million figure, but left wiggle room for the final number to fluctuate.

But then things got a bit more heated when the county board turned its attention to dedicating riverboat revenue that comes back to the county for specific projects. The funds are completely separate from the rest of the county budget and can never be used to help balance the budget. But that didn't stop board member Christina Castro, of Elgin, from pulling back the curtain on an ongoing source of budget tension as discussions about money continue.

Castro suggested now is not the time to spend $79,000 to update the county's Web site.

Part of the upgrade would involve a better marketing of travel and tourism destinations in the county. Board member Bonnie Kunkel, of Aurora, questioned whether that type of marketing could be done by Brad Hahn, a consultant on the payroll who is occasionally tasked with media relations duties. The money the county spends on outside consultants, such as Hahn, is a building sore spot in the budget talks.

"Mr. Hahn is no longer doing our (public relations)," McConnaughay told the board. "I know that Brad Hahn is a big issue for some of you. The Web site is about communicating with the public. If you don't want to do it, you don't want to do it. I know this is an issue for some of you because it's a project that I initiated. You can rest assured that I will not be administering it."

Indeed, the technology department will oversee the project as the board approved the project once the smoke cleared.