County spending an issue in Kane District 10 race

Longtime North Aurora village Trustee Laura Curtis says the Kane County Board needs to take a line-by-line approach to spending, looking for redundancy and efficiencies.

Curtis, a Republican, is facing incumbent Democrat Bill Tarver of Batavia in November’s election. They are seeking a four-year term

She owns a real estate appraisal business. Curtis said she is running for county board because of the experience she has gained serving on the village board since 2011. “I’d like to take that up to the next level,” Curtis said.

Tarver, a social worker for Bloomingdale District 93, was elected in 2022. He particularly is interested in the county’s public health, he said, including mental health initiatives.

Both Tarver and Curtis supported the board’s plan to ask voters, via a referendum in the spring, to institute a countywide sales tax.

But both said the county board could do more to control spending.

“I’m a taxpayer. I certainly do not want to see taxes raised,” Tarver said. He favors asking elected officials, such as the sheriff and state’s attorney, again to cut their budgets. The county board has until the end of November to approve the 2025 budget. Elected officials were asked several months ago to make cuts, and some refused.

“Let’s take a look around before we pull out our wallet,” Curtis said of her approach. She said she would not necessarily call for eliminating current programs, but that anything new proposed should be highly scrutinized to see if it is required by law, and if it already is being done by other agencies or groups.

“I do like the idea of a consumption tax where we can spread the taxes out beyond our own residents, but again, we need to be balanced with this,” Curtis said.

She also questioned Tarver’s support for some items, such as a clean energy policy that calls for buying electric vehicles. The vehicles have been more expensive than gasoline-burning ones. “We can’t ask for more (money) while buying premium products,” Curtis said.

As for specific needs for the district, Curtis noted there is gridlock sometimes in downtown Batavia, and Tarver said the county transportation department is studying the intersection of Fabyan Parkway and Route 31. That intersection is prone to serious crashes, particularly as people make left turns, due to the angle at which the roads meet.

On support for any capital projects, such as building a new county government center, Tarver said that is unrealistic now, due to the county’s financial issues. He voted against constructing a new building for the health department. “I don’t really see any (projects) in the next three to five years,” he said.

The county has been using excess reserve funds to balance its budgets the last few years.

District 10 includes parts of Batavia and North Aurora.