Fiscal gulf widens between county board and circuit court clerk

Another sign that budget battles between the Kane County Board and Circuit Court Clerk Deb Seyller will escalate in 2011 arose Thursday.

County Finance Director Cheryl Pattelli announced Seyller gave notice to her office that she expects to run an $800,000 deficit this year. That’s, by far, the largest gap to date between what the county board thinks Seyller needs to run her office and what Seyller plans to spend. Last year, the county board repeatedly rejected Seyller’s requests for a $555,000 cash infusion. The fight ended up in court where it still awaits a resolution.

The county board briefly discussed an option to pursue changes to state laws earlier this month. One option involved a law change to make the county a co-employer of all of Seyller’s staff. The number of employees in Seyller’s office is at the heart of the disagreement. The county board has made no formal decision to pursue such a law change yet.

Seyller did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Pattelli balanced out that deficit news with two items lending to a fiscal silver lining. Final sales tax receipts for 2010 indicate a 2 percent increase compared to 2009. That trend may continue as the most recent sales tax data indicate an 8 percent increase this year compared to the same time frame in 2010.

Pattelli cautioned that the county still has a long way to go just to get back to the level of sales tax dollars received in 2008. Even with the 2010 upswing, the county still pulled in 12 percent less in sales tax revenues from its performance in 2008.

“We’re still down, but we’re trending up,” Pattelli said.

The other piece of possibly good news was Pattelli’s opinion that audit numbers from last year seem to indicate the county will close the books on 2010 in the black.

Finishing 2010 without a deficit may be a matter of perspective.

The county board shifted several 2010 costs in the sheriff’s department to the 2011 budget to avoid a deficit. When that move was first discussed, County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay said such a shift would make it impossible to really say the county didn’t run a deficit.