Daily Herald opinion: ‘It’s just really unfortunate’: DuPage County clerk should provide serious transparency on proposed budget

DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek’s ongoing dispute with other elected officials has already cost county taxpayers more than $100,000 in legal fees.

Now, the taxpayers are being denied the chance to learn about how the clerk’s office operates, because Kaczmarek has refused to present her proposed budget for the next fiscal year.

For more than two years, the DuPage County Board has been at odds with Kaczmarek over how bills get paid and the internal control she has over her office. The county even filed a lawsuit last September to get some resolution.

Last week, a judge ruled that the clerk must follow the county’s accounting procedures. But that didn’t put the issue to rest.

Kaczmarek responded to the ruling by saying she disagrees with it and will “pursue the appropriate next legal steps to fully resolve these fundamental questions.” Meanwhile, the cost of the litigation is rising. By the end of June, the county had paid $112,000 in legal fees for Kaczmarek’s attorney.

One day after ruling, Kaczmarek skipped a meeting of the county board’s finance committee where she was scheduled to do a budget presentation. She didn’t even send a representative from her office to it on her behalf.

Instead, Kaczmarek has submitted a form listing approximately $12.5 million in projected expenses for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Dec. 1. County board members say the document resembles a “grocery list” and lacks crucial information such as accounting codes or revenue projections.

The clerk’s office is a vital department responsible for handling important records, including birth certificates, marriage licenses and death certificates. It also administers elections in the county. So, we don’t understand why Kaczmarek expects to receive millions of dollars from the county without preparing a detailed budget proposal and explaining the planned use of the money.

“Everybody has to submit their budget proposals. This has not changed,” county 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.”

When Daily Herald correspondent Alicia Fabbre asked Kaczmarek why her office did not make a budget presentation to county board members, the clerk didn’t answer the question.

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

A list on the clerk’s website does show projected expenses for the 2026 fiscal year. But it’s unclear what some of the expenses are and why they are necessary. Is the clerk’s office adding staff, increasing employee pay or launching a new program? There’s no way to tell.

When county elected officials explain their proposed budgets and answer questions about their offices, it helps residents understand how their tax dollars are being spent.

Kaczmarek should put aside her differences with the county board and do a budget presentation. The taxpayers and the voters who elected her deserve at least that much transparency.