DuPage County cutting lobbyist costs

Facing lagging sales tax revenues, the DuPage County Board is taking a hard look at almost $400,000 in annual lobbyist contracts.

The proposed contracts are already $48,000 below the current lobbying contracts for four different firms - two of which work in Springfield and two others that lobby in Washington, D.C. However, some board members are suggesting cutting deeper, if not removing the allocations for the year.

The county's most recent financial reports indicated the county's revenues so far this year are $6.2 million below projections. That deficit is caused by a combination of the state withholding payments and lackluster sales tax receipts, officials said.

The county board's six-member legislative committee was split on the lobbyist issue, and the full county board agreed Tuesday to table to issue for two weeks to allow for more debate.

County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom said the lobbying efforts in the past have more than covered the cost of the contracts. He says the county has received more than $200 million in additional federal funds in the 11 years DuPage has contracted a federal lobbyist.

"While lobbyist contracts can be controversial, they are a very good investment," Schillerstrom said. "The amount of money we have paid has been dwarfed by money they've brought back from Springfield and D.C."

In addition to reducing the contracts' values for the coming year, the DuPage Airport Authority would also reimburse the county $40,000 on one of the federal lobbyist contracts because of the work the company does on air travel issues.

Some county board members want to see the costs chipped away by other elected officials who are benefiting from the lobbyists' work and the county's dollars.

"Why can't the treasurer or coroner participate in the funding if they're seeing the benefit of what our lobbyists are doing?" Asked board member Don Puchalski.

Board member Dirk Enger suggested some of the money that could be saved by eliminating the $150,000 worth of contracts for the state lobbyists could help fund truancy officers that were cut out of the Regional Office of Education's budget recently because of state shortfalls.

"I consider our state legislators to be the county's lobbyists," Enger said.

Board member Brien Sheahan favors the lobbyist contracts and doesn't believe the county will get the same results it is used to if some or all of the contracts are eliminated.

"Historically the cost benefit of having lobbyists has been very good," he said. "Each of these firms has a niche and a specialized role."

Some board members complained that hiring lobbyists in Springfield to secure grants or any other funding would be a lost cause. But board member Jim Healy said DuPage lobbyists downstate have taken a "defensive posture" to keep the county from being saddled with new fees and costs through state initiatives.

"If you're looking for big dollars coming back from Springfield, that's just not going to happen," he said.