Kane sheriff asks for bigger piece of RTA sales tax pie

Kane County Sheriff Pat Perez asked again Monday that the county board consider devoting a bigger percentage of the RTA sales tax it receives to public safety, rather than transportation.

"I'm not saying I want the lion's share; I want the board to revisit and see what's being diverted" to transportation, he told the board's judiciary committee.

Currently, 85 percent is going to transportation and 15 percent to public safety. That 15 percent is split with other departments, including the state's attorney and the circuit court clerk.

Perez met with the committee to show them what of his duties are required by state and federal laws, how many and what kind of employees he has, and whether those jobs are being done by civilians or sworn personnel.

Board committees are making county department heads chart what state and federal laws require them to do, in preparation for the 2010 county budget. The new fiscal year starts Dec. 1.

Most of the jobs Perez listed are state-mandated. And he said those duties that can be handled by civilians, who are typically paid less than deputies, have already been assigned to civilians.

Even with that, salaries for public safety - not including the corrections department or the court security division, which have separate budgets - are expected to increase about $800,000 over the 2009 budget, his preliminary projections show.

Committee member John Fahy of Elgin said he realized the sheriff thinks he is operating at peak efficiency, but that Perez "was going to have to find" a way to cut that salary line down.

Committee chairman Mike Kenyon of South Elgin reiterated a point made earlier this year, during discussions of how to cut spending in the current year.

"That may be the only way we can adjust this is to take away paid holidays," he said.

That would have to be negotiated with the four collective bargaining units in the sheriff's department.

Perez detailed some of the cuts that have been made, including a projected $60,000 annual savings by serving cold breakfast to inmates at the adult jail. He said he's considering a recommendation of installing red-light cameras at Route 47 and Jericho Road in Sugar Grove, and Randall and Huntley roads in Carpentersville; and charging a $200 fee any time an arrestee's car has to be towed to an impound lot.