Kane County passes 2010 budget, keeps negotiations open with sheriff

The Kane County Board passed a final 2010 budget Tuesday, but at least one glaring problem remains unresolved by several months of scrutiny by the board's committees.

The Kane County Sheriff's office is still more than $800,000 in the red for next year with no agreed upon plan for how to make up the difference.

Union representatives for sheriff's officers have pitched a plan to take about $300,000 in salary deferrals and use $500,000 in RTA sales-tax money earmarked to buy new vehicles to plug the gap.

County board members, as a group, have yet to publicly weigh in on that plan.

Instead, board members spent much of Tuesday's budget debate lamenting months of meetings that never led to a prioritization county services. In the view of County Board member Deborah Allan, the budget still needs work, particularly in regard to the sheriff's office.

"I would urge you to vote 'present' or 'no' on the 2010 budget," Allan told her colleagues.

Board Member Cathy Hurlbut fired back that the time for committees and creating more committees for the 2010 budget is long gone. She said board members should have a firm grasp of the situation by now.

"All this makes it sound like we're inactive, inappropriate, understaffed board members who have no clue what's going on," Hurlbut said of the debate. "That is far, far from the case."

Instead, it was sheriff's deputies who left the meeting feeling like the ones with no clue. Union President Dennis Carroll said he's been given no feedback on the use of RTA sales tax money to avoid the potential layoff of as many as eight deputies to make up the $800,000 shortfall. He also has received no word if any sheriff's employee will even see their last paycheck for the 2009 budget year.

Right now, the sheriff's budget is set to run dry by $768,000 just in time for final payroll.

County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay said solving that problem is entirely on the shoulders of Sheriff Pat Perez and whatever plan he presents at a special meeting Nov. 24. McConnaughay did not rule out dipping into the county's remaining 2009 reserves, but added that there likely won't be enough to help.

"It's entirely up to the sheriff," McConnaughay said when asked if officers would be paid.

Meanwhile, deputies say any solution that involves cutting more staff isn't feasible. The county currently only has two officers to clear about 15,000 active warrants, and has emergency response times hitting 20 to 30 minutes some days. Any more cuts puts citizens at risk, Carroll said.

"This board should have come to us first before talking publicly about layoffs," he said. "We should have started talking about concessions last year, not last week. Other departments can shut down, but we can't turn off 911 or let criminals go free."