Official: New Lake Co. budget to be smaller

For the first time in his seven-year tenure, Lake County Administrator Barry Burton expects to give the county board a proposed budget that's smaller than the current spending plan.

The county's financial planners and department leaders have spent recent months trying to cut a variety of costs because of the recession. But the county's share of taxes and other revenues is shrinking, forcing officials to make more significant - and as-of-yet unspecified - reductions, Burton told the Daily Herald Thursday.

Are layoffs, which have become a sad reality at many governmental agencies in the area, a possibility for some of the county's roughly 3,000 employees?

"We're doing everything we can to prevent that," Burton said. "(But) we have to balance our budget."

The county board will meet in a special session Thursday, July 30, to discuss the 2010 fiscal forecast and the budget-planning process. The meeting is set to begin at 9 a.m. at the transportation division office, 600 W. Winchester Road, Libertyville.

The county's finances aren't in as dire shape as other agencies because "we've really made good decisions over the years," Burton said. But income from sales taxes and business taxes is decreasing, Burton said, and property development has stalled.

Such development has kept revenues on the rise in recent years despite the recession.

Burton predicts the budget for the next fiscal year, which starts Dec. 1, will be smaller than the current year's $505 million spending plan. It's early in the budget process, however, so his staff hasn't yet come up with an estimated figure.

The county board typically approves the annual budget in early November. Various committees will review the plan, once it's developed, in the preceding months.

Among the topics likely to be discussed, Burton said, is whether commissioners should freeze or reduce their own salaries. Board members were criticized in May 2008 for approving raises for themselves despite the worsening economy.

"They'll need to discuss that," Burton said.

County board member David Stolman, who was among the 10 commissioners who voted against the raises in 2008, hopes the panel discusses adjusting their salaries.

"It's a wonderful way for the board members to express brotherhood (with employees)," said Stolman, a Buffalo Grove Republican. "It's our little part that we could do to help."

County board finance committee chairman Brent Paxton, a Zion Republican who also voted against the raises last year, would support freezing or reducing salaries but doesn't think it legally can be done now, in the middle of a political term.

Even so, Paxton said, "I don't think anything should be off the table."