Balanced? Kane County's 2019 budget still has big unanswered questions
When the Kane County Board approved a 2019 budget this month, it seemed to close the gap on what was at one point a $5.2 million deficit heading into the new year. But pending salary negotiations and a lack of spending detail provided by some officials are creating a murkier budgetary forecast than the county's CFO would like.
The 2019 budget contains no money for pay raises - purposely, county officials said, so there are not set figures to work with as several union contracts are being negotiated. Raises, though, are a virtual certainty if history is an indicator.
In the recent past, any union contracts that went to arbitration resulted in at least 2 percent raises. When the county's probation workers went on strike this past summer, that also ended with a commitment to raises ranging from 2 percent to 2.5 percent.
A 2 percent pay increase for county workers would add $1.3 million in new spending to the 2019 budget. And it would come with no identifiable funding source, CFO Joseph Onzick said.
"If we are going to commit to four-year labor contracts, we should also be committing to a four-year funding plan for those increases," Onzick said.
Income and sales tax revenues continue to trend upward for the county, but officials have always been conservative in their projections to leave some wiggle room for unexpected costs.
That's fueled six- and seven-figure budget surpluses when closing the books in recent fiscal years. A more than $1 million contingency fund for the 2018 fiscal year sits virtually untouched thus far.
But it's a similar desire for wiggle room by the leaders of the county's most expensive departments that is also creating budgetary discomfort for 2019.
The treasurer, judiciary and courts, public defender, sheriff, court services and coroner have $3.1 million in budget reductions they are responsible for finding for 2019. So far, those cuts are not tied to any specific line items.
"It gives the impression that there is not yet a plan to implement these budget cuts," Onzick said.
The leaders of most of those departments have had budgetary clashes with the county board and Chairman Chris Lauzen in recent years. Lauzen publicly questioned what value taxpayers get from the money given to the sheriff and court services in August.
Likewise, Coroner Rob Russell has had financial battles that have, in part, stymied his efforts to construct a new facility. And public defender Kelli Childress made a failed pitch for a $746,000 spending increase in August.
Onzick said some departments have inflated their personnel expenses beyond the actual head count in recent years, reflecting a practice of budgeting for positions but not hiring anyone to fill the spots. Lauzen has decried that practice, particularly when the leftover money funds lump-sum bonuses to employees.
Onzick said there isn't much the county can do about it.
"When the request was made to the elected officials to apply the cuts to specific line items, we did not receive anything in return," Onzick said. "By state statute, elected officials are not required to allocate that more specifically. So they are operating within the statute. It just would be helpful information from our side. It's difficult to balance the budget from an analytical standpoint."