Audit: Kane Co. responded well to budget cuts

Months of Kane County Board members telling departments they had to cut back seems to have paid off as the latest numbers show nearly every county department is on track to return unspent money from their budgets to county coffers at the end of the year.

A report from the county auditor's office shows about $2 million of unspent funds as the 2009 fiscal year closed at the end of November. There is still one countywide payroll on Dec. 11 that will come from 2009 funds and about a month's backlog of bills to be paid from that chunk of leftover money. That means the end result won't be $2 million of extra money when the books close for good, but the report left the county board feeling optimistic that it won't finish another year in the red.

Only the sheriff's office and the Kane County Regional Office of Education failed to make the list of under-budget departments. The final numbers for the sheriff's office are still coming in. The county board already voted to bail out the sheriff's office upon realizing the department would not be unable to make the final Dec. 11 payroll without additional money from contingency funds.

The regional office of education almost always finishes the year slightly over budget, but writes a check back to the county to make up the difference at the end of every year.

The Kane County Public Defender's office is on the verge of finishing the year over budget even with a boost of contingency funds approved by the county board. The auditor's office will continue to track the office's expenses.

Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay said the auditor's report is a good sign that departments responded well to a budget crunch.

"It gives you a sense that, at the end of the year, a large number of departments really worked hard to reduce their spending and come in under budget," McConnaughay said. "That's good news."

McConnaughay also said the return of unspent money at the end of the year indicates to her that maybe it won't be so hard to ask departments to make more cuts, should the need arise.

"They all survived it, didn't they?" McConnaughay said. "And I have received no complaints about a reduction in services. When times are tough, you can always find a way to cut your spending."