Watchdog group supports DuPage budget plan

What a difference a year makes.

After a lukewarm endorsement of DuPage County's budget plan last year, the Chicago-based Civic Federation gave this year's spending plan a thumbs up.

Laurance Msall, the group's president, praised the county for lowering its property tax levy and its healthy financial reserves of roughly $48 million.

"A severe recession is no time for a government to be working without a financial safety net," Msall said.

Msall derided budget plans for Chicago and Cook County, complaining that those proposals called for spending "nearly every dime they take in revenue, leaving them no contingency funds."

The group also recognized efforts the county has made to make the budget process more open to the public compared to last year, citing several forums held by the county board's finance committee and efforts being pursued by the county's new transparency committee.

"I take this as it is," said county board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom. "It is an endorsement of what we are doing and an outside agency with expertise in budgeting saying we're doing the best for our county."

But the report was not without some concerns heading into the next fiscal year. The group was concerned that DuPage sales tax revenue projections were too high considering the state of the economy.

"We're not challenging assumptions," Msall said, "but with other governments we follow, the target is aggressive when compared to other taxing bodies that are projecting declining sales tax revenues."

Schillerstrom believes the county's sales tax revenue projections are conservative and questioned whether the Civic Federation based its concerns on the right data.

"I believe they may have compared our estimates to what we first proposed last year," he said. "So, they may be more conservative than what they believe."

Msall's group also expressed concerns over a lack of a formal capital improvement plan, which is currently included in the county's overall budget plan. Without a formal plan, the public isn't able to access information on how projects are identified and prioritized, Msall said.

Schillerstrom said he'd investigate doing things differently in the future with capital planning.

The group backed off suggestions that the county privatize its convalescent center in Wheaton after a panel recently released a report indicating residents would be underserved if the center was placed in private hands.

This is the fifth year the group has analyzed DuPage's budget. The Civic Federation is a nonpartisan government research organization funded by businesses and service firms in the region.