Clock ticking on relationship between county board and sheriff

Buried in the final sentence of the resolution slashing the Kane County sheriff's budget by $1.5 million this week was a clause that set a clock ticking.

It said time runs out Tuesday, and that's when county residents will have their fullest picture yet of how the financial cat-and-mouse game between their top cop and county board will play out.

The board slashed Sheriff Don Kramer's budget by $1.54 million, with only two "no" votes, to give him more time to get his finances under control. The fiscal disorder arose when Kramer canceled a contract to house federal detainees at the county jail. The agreement would have netted about $2.5 million this year to cover the sheriff's expenses.

In response to the dollar drain, the board approved an initial cut of $225,000. When the contract wasn't salvaged, the board came up with an additional $1.54 million cut and promised to cut another $500,000 as soon as next month.

But how many of those cuts are real and how many are figurative is yet to be seen.

The resolution cutting Kramer's budget called for the sheriff to report back to the county's finance department no later than Tuesday if he accepted the plan the board passed. So far, Kramer has not given any indication of what he might do.

And he might not have to, if his plan is to play hardball.

Illinois law gives Kramer the ability to spend money how he sees fit. The county board decides only how much he gets.

But in interviews Thursday, and in recent financial outlook presentations, various county officials conceded many of the expenses in Kramer's office are mandated by law to meet safety standards for staff members, jail inmates and the public.

That sets a scenario where Kramer could spend money according to the original budget he started the year with, and stick the county board with the bill, all in the name of public safety. Once spent, the county may be legally obligated to make good on the debt.

"He could do that, but that's the worst thing that he could do," said Cristina Castro. She is the chairman of the board's Judicial and Public Safety Committee, which Kramer reports to.

"If he does that, then it drops in our lap," she said. "It leaves it to us to have to clean it up."

Board members have indicated they will paint Kramer as a fiscal villain in that scenario.

One outcome discussed involves the board members passing what they would call a "Sheriff Kramer tax increase." Another possibility would strip whatever Kramer overspends this year out of his 2016 budget, similar to how they handled a recent cost overrun in the coroner's office.

But not everyone favors a heavy-handed approach.

Board member Mark Davoust is one of several officials trying to bring Kramer to the table and hash out a deal in private.

"We've created a situation now where we've got a sheriff who is, I imagine, on the defensive," Davoust said. "He's got a chairman and a board who, at every opportunity in a public meeting, have PowerPoint presentations about how bad the situation is. And we want him to trust us?"

Davoust voted in favor of the first two budget cuts because he said he believes Kramer was wrong to cancel the federal contract without board permission.

But Davoust said he understands wanting a safer jail. And he thinks other board members may be sympathetic to Kramer if he participated in a thorough discussion of the issue.

Fellow board members Barb Wojnicki and Phil Lewis were the two "no" votes on the budget reduction and have made similar supportive statements of Kramer.

"If we don't pump the brakes a bit and find out a way to get him to start talking and working on this with us, then we're not getting any better," Davoust said. "The reality is none of the federal money was guaranteed. I'm suggesting we tone it down a bit and come at him from a different angle. We ought to focus a little less on what we don't have now and more on how do we run that office with what we do have."

For now, the clock is ticking toward Tuesday and another $500,000 cut the sheriff may or may not absorb.

County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen said Kramer owes the public a budget plan. The sheriff missed his monthly report Thursday to attend to a family medial issue. A deputy who represented him had no comment.

Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Pat Gengler has repeatedly said the sheriff will meet with the county board staff, but no meeting has materialized.

"These are reasonable recommendations," Lauzen said of the budget cuts to date. "We are constantly reminded of the internal control statute. But I hope people recognize there is a reciprocal responsibility that comes with any authority. It's more than 100 days into this fiscal year. There haven't been any meetings with the sheriff."