Kane sheriff cuts $2 million of budget request

The Kane County sheriff has reduced his 2016 budget request by more than $2 million in an effort to help cut a projected $3.2 million countywide deficit for 2016.

And Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon has also trimmed his request.

While applauding their efforts, Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen said Thursday about $1 million more still needs to be cut. He spoke at the judicial and public safety committee meeting.

"The final million is probably the toughest," he said, likening it to the last stretch of climbing the K2, the world's second tallest mountain after Mount Everest and considered by many to be the toughest to climb.

The deficit projection announced in July did not take into account the transportation department's budget.

Sheriff Don Kramer presented the committee a revised request that was $2.34 million less than his initial request of $28.26 million.

It is still more than his 2015 amended budget.

He cut $109,500 for food, zeroed out the cost of board and care (for prisoners housed in other facilities), took out a request for two additional deputies, knocked $104,725 out of his fuel budget, and removed a request for five additional correctional officers, among other items.

He originally asked for $500,000 worth of automotive equipment, to be paid for by the public safety sales tax fund, but he reduced that to $337,000. Kramer anticipates that will cover the cost of 11 new squad cars.

"I think it is a very frugal budget," Kramer said.

McMahon had asked for six new employees initially. Thursday he said he would put off hiring a second Spanish-speaking investigator. McMahon said he can get by another year by using the one that is primarily assigned to the Kane County Child Advocacy Center, a division of his office that investigates cases of child abuse.

He also said he would postpone hiring two people that would have worked on the transition from the current case-record-management system to a new one.

Kramer said having additional deputies could allow his department to reinstate a traffic-law enforcement unit. He estimated the department has been without such a detail for at least eight years, as patrol deputies' time was instead allocated primarily to calls for service.

Dedicating officers to routine traffic enforcement could increase income from fines, he said.

The county board is scheduled to adopt a budget in November. The fiscal year starts Dec. 1.