Kane County looking to balance 2011 budget with many unknown costs

The 2011 Kane County budget will come to the county board as a mostly balanced document next month. The question will be how long it can stay that way as a number of possible spending increases remain unknown.

All told, the county expects to spend about $72.7 million while having an income of about $72.5 million.

Income estimates are considered conservative with ongoing problems in collecting state payments, only small increases in new property tax money and a less than 1 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index. Sales tax and investment income also continue to be low or declining for the county.

At the same time, several costs are on the rise. Those include health insurance, pension payments and additional funding planned for county board member salaries and staffing, and maintenance costs stemming from the new judges and courtrooms the county will have in 2011.

Perhaps the biggest unknown cost relates to a large number of union contracts the county is in the process of renegotiating. The county budget calls for no raises in any departments except for the county board. County board raises are required by law. If the county is unsuccessful at holding the line on union employee salaries, it could throw the county's budget into the red fast.

Two other big unknowns are the possible budget impact of Circuit Court Clerk Deb Seyller's lawsuit against the county. Taxpayers may be on the hook for the costs of the legal battle as well as any budget increases Seyller may win in court. Seyller was seeking an increase of $555,000 before the lawsuit.

The county also still has no money budgeted to fund the cost of housing inmates outside the new county jail when all the cells are full. However, the county has spent money on that cost every year since the new jail opened. Costs for housing Kane County inmates in Kendall and Kankakee counties are expected to cost up to $90,000 this month alone.

County board members have also said they aren't done taking a close look at what cuts might still be available. Requests for more detail on expenses in the county clerk's office for elections and money in the budget to pay lobbyists will both see some debate during the final vote next month.