Kane County eyes cuts to GPS monitoring program over officials' objections

For months, solving Kane County's 2018 projected deficit was all about numbers. County board members altered projections about revenue. They asked every department to submit their leanest budget figures.

Despite all the number-crunching, a deficit of about $2 million remained as of Tuesday night. The plan on the table would slash all department budgets by 3.6 percent to balance the books.

But then, for the first time in the process, the cuts became more than numbers.

Members of the county's court services department, backed by judges and administrators, filled the county board room. Sara Fair, an officer with the department, told officials what will happen with across-the-board cuts.

One result would be the loss of the county's electronic monitoring unit. The team uses GPS to track defendants released into their home communities while they await trial.

The county board decided Tuesday to keep that cut in consideration for an early vote next week, but it didn't come without debate first.

Fair said eliminating her team could put more people in the county jail, at the cost of $80 per day per inmate - the GPS team saved the county more than $3.6 million in jail costs in 2016. Or it could release defendants, some facing murder or sexual assault charges, into the community without a way to track their location around the clock. Without the unit, the only monitoring would be random phone calls to a defendant's home.

"I think of the victim, who we serve, whose husband gunned her down in the middle of their residential neighborhood," Fair said. "I think of the victim who sought an order of protection after being endlessly stalked and coming home one evening to find her stalker hiding in the attic. (I think) of the frantic victim who called our office fearful that she was being followed by her husband and our GPS officers were able to get her to a safe location for local police to meet her and have him arrested. Without GPS, what service will be in place to help them sleep at night?"

Fair's statements came with the support of Chief Judge Susan Clancy Boles. She sent the county board a letter stating she will abide by whatever decision officials make, but she won't make the cuts voluntarily.

"I cannot responsibly make the cuts that you have requested because of the substantial, detrimental impact this will have on the judicial system," Boles wrote. "Eliminating these programs is not what is best for the integrity of the system or the citizens of Kane County."

Board members debated other scenarios to balance the budget. Most of the ideas involved using some mix of reserves from a variety of funds. There was a brief discussion of raising the county's property tax levy to account for inflation, which would net about $1.2 million in new money. None of the ideas generated a majority of support. Some board members cited an aversion to raising the tax levy, and others had fears about what using a large portion of the reserves will mean for what is expected to be an even greater deficit in 2019.

Chairman Chris Lauzen was the loudest voice against dipping too far into rainy day funds. He said every department head promised to live with all cuts, even if it means extreme measures.

"Taking a one-time drawdown of reserves and putting onto an operating statement is an illusion of doing a balancing measure," Lauzen said. "We can either face what we need to do now, and do it because these offices have said we'll live within this. Or, you can say we'll have an illusion of balance by using reserves. It is not a reality."

The board moved the cuts, including the end of the GPS monitoring program, forward for a preliminary vote next Wednesday. Board members have until then to develop a consensus for any last-minute changes.