Kane Co. layoffs will create hole in service, budget

The largest layoff in the history of the Kane County Health Department is set to occur next week.

When the job loss hits, the impact will also blow a new hole in the county's budget.

Health department officials expect to send out the required 30-day notice of a potential layoff to employees early next week. The notice is required for all American Federation of State, County and Municipal union employees who will lose their jobs,

The evaporation of state grants that fund the salaries and operation for a number of health department programs is the cause of the layoffs. As of this week, the state was nearly $982,000 behind in payments to the health department. Some payments are more than 90 days late.

"When I think about that, if I was in business, or I had that kind of debt as a private person, I'd be getting hounded by collection agencies or in court already," said health department Executive Director Paul Kuehnert. "Essentially, local government is financing the state right now."

The problem is, Kane County doesn't have any money to even finance itself right now. County departments are already scrambling to slash 5.5 percent from their expenses midyear. Add to that a clock ticking on a budget bomb that could blow a new $660,000 hole in the county's finances.

As of July 1, the county health department is spending $20,000 a day in state money it doesn't have, nor expects to receive, while for waiting the 30-day advance notice of layoff to expire and the unfunded salaries to come off the books. Kuehnert said he doesn't expect state lawmakers to start thinking about restoring the grants until July 14.

"We're not hearing anything, I guess, that would be hopeful at this point," Kuehnert said. The only hope is to restore the lost grants.

If not, the health department will lose so many employees that many of its programs will be crippled, Kuehnert said. Only the highest priority functions, such as monitoring swine flu cases, will remain.

Kuehnert and his staff were working on contingencies Thursday and getting an exact count of employees they'll have to let go.

"It's going to be big, bigger than the number of layoffs we had at the end of last year," Kuehnert said.

A total of 25 health department employees lost their jobs at the end of November after state funding reductions.