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Kane chairman delivers state of the county speech

Standing before a PowerPoint slide reading “Promises, Promises” on Tuesday, Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen largely avoided the challenges facing the county during a state of the county address. Instead, Lauzen provided a positive outlook on taxes, efforts to combat political bickering and the future of the Longmeadow Parkway.

Lauzen expressed some concern about the state possibly reneging on a funding pledge for the parkway. The $135 million bridge would span nearly six miles from Route 62 across the Fox River and onto Huntley Road. Part of the funding for the project stems from a $40 million letter of intent from the Illinois Department of Transportation the county received in the fall. But that was before Gov. Bruce Rauner was elected on promises of taking a hard line to solve the state's budget problems.

Asked by the audience what guarantees of state funding the county has for the project as of today, Lauzen said, “Sorry, we don't.”

“I worry about that every time I think about this project,” Lauzen said.

Lauzen endorsed the idea of collecting a toll to fund the parkway, but he also indicated he will lobby Randy Blankenhorn, the new IDOT secretary, to keep the Longmeadow Parkway funding in place. Blankenhorn is set to attend a leadership summit in St. Charles on May 8. Lauzen said he built up a good relationship with Blankenship while Lauzen was a state senator and Blankenship was a member of the IDOT staff.

“We're friends,” Lauzen said. “I rely on friends to get things done.”

Lauzen also said he is committed to “treat people respectfully” no matter what brings them before the county board.

Lauzen said local news media have unfairly portrayed some of the county's discussions to emphasize drama. He said his own philosophy involves treating everyone who appears before the county board with respect because otherwise they won't return.

“The last thing we want to read about is political people fighting with each other,” Lauzen said. “We are getting along.”

Absent from his remarks was any commentary about the present state of relations with the county sheriff and coroner. Both have been involved in budget battles with Lauzen and the board in recent months.

The board's relationship with Coroner Rob Russell appears to have reached an armistice. But Sheriff Don Kramer has not appeared before the county board to discuss his budget since officials voted to cut it by $1.5 million.

That cut is part of a series of budget discussions that have followed the loss of $2.5 million in the sheriff's office after the cancellation of a contract to house federal inmates in the county jail. In addition to the Longmeadow Parkway funding, the county board might also find a need to address a potential loss of $1.7 million if state lawmakers sign on to Rauner's plan to halve the local share of state income tax dollars.

Lauzen didn't specifically address those funding challenges, but he said the county board will try to keep the county's portion of the local property tax flat for a fifth straight year in 2015. He showed a chart indicating the county has collected $54 million in property taxes each year since 2010. And that's been enough to continue the day-to-day operations of the county, Lauzen said.

“We need to live within our means without asking for more,” Lauzen said.

Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen touched on shaky funding for the Longmeadow Parkway, taxes and political bickering during his state of the county address Tuesday.
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