Kane planning, development department requests huge increase

Kane County Planning and Development Department employees delivered an expensive and vital portrayal of what they do Tuesday, but were quickly undercut by cries for frugality and realism.

The planning and development department is on the budgetary radar since it is responsible for overseeing new commercial and residential growth in unincorporated areas. That growth was booming in recent years but is practically at a standstill this year. The halt in growth means revenue is down substantially, turning the department into a budgetary burden in the eyes of some. With an even more lean budget year predicted in 2010 for the county, every county job and function is straining to be a necessity.

Planning and development employees delivered an overview of their duties showing just about every task stems from either a county, state or federal mandate.

Cathy Hurlbut, who chairs the county board's development committee, said she's not interested in what the county mandates. If the county requires a function it is also funding the function and can choose not to, she said. What the county board must know is what functions state and federal governing bodies tell the county it must legally do.

"When we talk about an unfunded mandate at the county board level, we're talking about unfunded state or federal mandates," Hurlbut said. "The 2030 plan is not something I think (County Board Chairman) Karen (McConnaughay) would consider a mandate."

Development Director Phil Bus responded that, with that way of thinking, almost nothing his department does is mandated. That includes having a building code for safe construction. Development committee members told Bus they want a priority list of all his department's functions with costs and revenues attached to each. The idea, ostensibly, is to look for places to cut the budget.

The planning and development department's preliminary budget request is for nearly $1.8 million in water resources projects such as improving local drainage. The $1.8 million would come from the county's riverboat gambling proceeds. The department currently receives $240,000 for such projects. The idea, employees said, was to show how much work there is to do. Hurlbut said that idea sounded more like a fantasy.

"In my mind it doesn't look good to go forward with a request like that," Hurlbut said. "I think we have to be a little more realistic. We are not going to be able to fund all these projects."