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Kane County might ask voters to merge clerk, recorder offices

Kane County might ask voters this November to merge the offices of clerk and recorder.

An email obtained Thursday by the Daily Herald shows county board member Cristina Castro will advance the idea at the board's next committee of the whole meeting. The email was sent to the county staff and elected officials as a formal request to put the merger idea on that agenda.

The proposal comes as the county board faces a $4.5 million budget deficit for 2017. That gap is the largest threat to maintaining the county's frozen property tax levy.

"While it wouldn't have a direct impact in this year's budget, it would emphasize our commitment to looking at ways to eliminate layers of government while also saving taxpayer dollars," Castro wrote in the email.

Castro first proposed the idea while seeking re-election to the county board in 2012. In an interview Thursday, Castro said the idea never came forward for a vote because her informal conversations with other county board members suggested there wasn't enough support at the time.

But now the timing may be right. In addition to the county's budget problem, Castro is not seeking re-election to the county board. She has her sights set on Mike Noland's former state Senate seat this November. And there's already a precedent for Kane County to follow.

Cook County commissioners voted Wednesday to put a binding referendum on ballots to merge the clerk and recorder offices. Castro said she's requested the resolution and referendum wording from John Fritchey, the commissioner who sponsored the plan.

"If Cook County can do this, there's no reason we can't ask our Kane County taxpayers if they also want smaller, less expensive local government," Castro said. "Our recorder's office is largely automated now," Castro said. "I think we can afford to do this."

Kane County Recorder Sandy Wegman said her office is entirely supported by the fees it charges. Any fees in excess of her office's costs flow right into the county's general coffers.

"We don't cost the county or the taxpayers anything," she said. "I'm sure this is politically motivated."

Wegman pointed to her daughter, Penny, defeating Castro's hand-picked successor, Tom Armstrong, as the real motivation behind Castro's plan.

"She just blew him away," Wegman said. "We actually live right around the corner from Cristina. But she and I are not exactly what you'd call buds. There's a lot of hostility. We wouldn't wave in passing."

Castro defeated Penny Wegman to retain her Kane County Board seat in 2012. But the Wegmans won't be Castro's only opponent on this issue.

Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham will vote "no" on the proposal if it reaches the ballot. He said Castro is just trying to show voters she would save money if they send her to Springfield.

"In smaller communities, the clerk and the recorder are usually combined," Cunningham said. "But our recorder is usually very busy. And the system is working out well now."

The recorder's office is responsible for maintaining documents recording the history of land ownership in the county. It handled 70,000 documents last year with 14 employees. The office now has 12.5 full-time positions. The 2016 budget for the office calls for $797,240 in expenses. Most of that is payroll.

Cunningham's office also handles a large number of documents. It processes birth, death, marriage certificates and passports. It also runs all county elections outside Aurora, which has its own election commission. The 2016 budget for the clerk's office is about $3 million.

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