Kane County Clerk's budget doesn't stand up to first line of questioning

In the first thorough examination of Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham's 2010 budget request, members of the county board's Public Service Committee found the numbers so muddled up they couldn't bring themselves to either support or reject the request.

Cunningham presented a budget proposal of about $3 million, an increase of nearly $1 million from 2009. The number wasn't totally unexpected. Cunningham has primary and consolidated elections to run in 2010, neither of which he had to deal with in 2009. However, the committee was expecting a better explanation of how Cunningham arrived at the additional costs.

A closer examination of increases in specific line items dealing with staff salaries, software licensing and voting systems equipment didn't seem to add up to the committee.

"You've got to be able to tell me more," county board member Bonnie Kunkel said. "You came up with this number. You've got to be able to tell me where it comes from."

When Cunningham's staff simply responded with, "That's what it takes," Kunkel intensified her line of questioning.

"That's not a good enough answer," Kunkel said. "If you know that's what it takes, I'm sure you know why it takes that."

Other committee members then peppered Cunningham and his staff with questions about raises and why salaries for certain employees were being split among several accounts. As the questions piled up, Cunningham began furiously clicking his pen into his microphone for all to hear. Eventually, Cunningham and his staff said they'd need to come back with more information if the committee wanted more detail.

Finance Director Cheryl Pattelli said there is no more time to come back. The final budget drafts are due to the Finance Committee on Thursday so Pattelli can get the 2010 budget documents ready in time to start the new fiscal year on Dec. 1. The Public Service Committee decided it didn't know enough about Cunningham's budget to make any recommendations on it for Finance Committee. Instead, they just passed it along for the Finance Committee to sort out on its own.