DuPage County clerk a no-show for budget presentation

The DuPage County Clerk’s Office was a no-show for a scheduled budget presentation at the county board’s finance committee meeting Tuesday — one day after a judge ruled the clerk must follow the county’s accounting procedures.

Neither DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek nor a representative from her office were on hand to review their proposed budget.

“That makes her the only elected official who has refused to come before the board to present,” said Paula Deacon Garcia, who heads the county board’s finance committee.

The Lisle Democrat also is challenging Kaczmarek in the 2026 primary election.

In July, Kaczmarek submitted a form listing projected expenses, totaling $12.5 million, that did not conform to the county’s budgeting process. Kaczmarek’s list was separated into three categories — equipment, materials and services — with subcategories within each larger group.

County board members were critical of the submission, saying her projected expenses looked more like a “grocery list” and lacked crucial information such as accounting codes or revenue projections. The clerk’s office collects fees related to vital records, such as birth certificates and marriage licenses.

County board members chastised the clerk’s office for not doing its job.

“Everybody has to submit their budget proposals. This has not changed,” board member Mary FitzGerald Ozog said. “The clerk, in midstream, had decided she no longer had to be within these constraints and here we are … and it’s just really unfortunate.”

At a court hearing Monday, DuPage County Judge Bryan Chapman sided with the county in an ongoing debate over internal control. He determined the county’s accounting procedures do not interfere with the clerk’s authority to run her office or make purchases.

Last September, the county filed a lawsuit, called a writ of mandamus, claiming the clerk was breaking state law by refusing to indicate from where in her budget a bill should be paid when the line item does not have enough to cover payment.

As of June 30, the county has spent $112,000 in legal fees for Kaczmarek’s attorney, county board member Cindy Cahill noted during Tuesday’s meeting.

A private attorney is representing the clerk’s office because the state’s attorney’s office, which represents the county, cannot represent both parties in the lawsuit.

Kaczmarek has maintained state law grants her internal control over her office and the county cannot delay payment of bills she has approved. After Monday’s ruling, Kaczmarek issued a written statement saying she intended to consider her legal options. A hearing on a countersuit brought by the clerk’s office is set for October.

In a written statement Tuesday, Kaczmarek said the county board “has an obligation to fund reasonable and necessary expenses of the clerk’s office.” She added, in July, she publicly posted her anticipated expenses for the upcoming budget year.

She declined to respond to questions about why her office did not make a budget presentation to county board members or indicate if she would work with county officials to develop a budget in the format requested.

County officials said they will review previous spending from the clerk’s office to develop a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts Dec. 1.

DuPage County Board Chair Deb Conroy is expected to present the county’s budget at the board’s Sept. 23 meeting. Final budget approval is expected Nov. 25.