3 weeks into new budget, Kane County sheriff coming up short
Kane County hasn't closed the books on 2017 yet, but a new contract to provide medical care for jail inmates is already breaking the bank for the 2018 budget.
Sheriff Don Kramer broke the bad news to a county board committee this week in presenting a bill for $2.04 million. The total is $343,000 more than he budgeted. But he presented it as a necessary cost for the county.
"(Inmates) probably get better medical services than you or I do," Kramer said. "But if you don't have good medical services, and someone has a beef with you, it's probably going to go to the federal courts. Lawsuits cost the county a lot of money."
Filling the gap may cost the county much of the 2018 contingency funds set aside for unforeseen costs. Kramer also told the board the $875,000 (3.64 percent) budget cut he made for his 2018 budget only exists on paper. He slashed about $1 million from his 2017 expenses by leaving 10 positions vacant for most of the year. That won't happen in 2018, Kramer said. The result is a sheriff's budget that is about $1.25 million in the red to start the year.
The good news is, thanks to those unfilled positions, projections show Kramer's office may close out 2017 with a $450,000 surplus. Kramer wants the county board to use that money to help fill his 2018 deficit. He didn't have any suggestions for how to resolve the remaining $800,000 he believes he needs to balance the books.
"We haven't found any extra savings or revenue that will cover that amount," Kramer said. "We're in a tight spot."
Kramer's request is the first of what may be many pressures on the 2018 budget.
It's not uncommon for department heads to make midyear requests for more money following a mandatory budget cut. What makes Kramer's situation unusual is how early in the year the request comes.
The county began its 2018 fiscal year Dec. 1. The finance department has not settled all the accounts for the 2017 fiscal year. It's not yet clear how much, if any, surplus funds the county will have. However, the county has had significant surpluses in every budget year in recent memory.
John Martin, who oversees the committee Kramer reports to, said he's not worried about having money to cover the cost overrun.
"We do have contingency funds in the budget because you have things come up that you don't anticipate," Martin said. "The only question is do we have excess funds from last year or do we need to go to that contingency. It's no different than we ever have to do for things like this, but because the budget is so tight, we're going to have to look at it more closely.
It's not clear if the medical contract increase was an unforeseen cost. Kramer said his staff arrived at the line item costs for medical care in June by adding a 5 percent increase over the prior year. The actual bids for the new medical contract came in about "90 days plus a couple weeks later." It then took him a couple weeks to read through the bids. The county board locked in a final 2018 budget Nov. 14.