Kane County looking for secret pot of money

Kane County's Special Budget Task Force will begin a quest to see if there exists a multimillion cookie jar containing all the money the county needs to get through tough times.

Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti said Thursday he's been pelted with questions by county employees with repeated notions that the county has millions of dollars of savings in several accounts that could more than make up for the budget shortfalls the county is struggling through. Barsanti said he wants County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay or someone from the finance department to come before the task force for a question-and-answer session of exactly what savings the county has and what the money can or can't be used for.

"If there's some money sitting there, how is it we can't use it right now?" Barsanti asked.

Fellow task force members said they want the answer to that question as well because they've heard the same rumors. If for no other reason, getting all that information might facilitate discussions with the county's unions about furlough days and health care insurance adjustments, task force members agreed.

"I'm going to be honest," Barsanti said. "You have some mistrust out there. There's a disconnect. So let's clear the deck. Is there a pot of hidden money somewhere?"

Task force members also agreed that even if there is money out there, that doesn't mean cuts already made shouldn't continue or that more efficiencies shouldn't be found.

"If there's hidden money, I don't know where it's at," Task Force Member John Fahy said. "I want to know where it's at."

Fahy also said, as a union president himself, he thinks the county has been too quick to label the county's unions as unwilling to discuss pay raises, furloughs and health insurance changes.

"We're sitting here talking about the unions won't give this, they won't give that," Fahy said. "They haven't been asked. I disagree that it takes a layoff notice to get them to the table. That's a threat. We need to try to sit down with them first."

The task force will now also meet with the county's labor union attorney for a closed-door meeting addressing exactly what the county's options are in negotiating with the unions.