Plan emerges to distribute Kane County COVID-19 relief funds, but politics remains an obstacle
Facing a vote of no confidence this week, the Kane County task force overseeing the use of $93 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds put forward a plan to use the money Wednesday. But some county board members pushing to abandon the task force indicated the move is too little, too late.
The plan would split the $93 million between the county's needs and uses local municipalities deem most urgent. The county would keep $51 million (55% of the total) for COVID-19 expenses by the health department, sheriff, coroner and 911 operations. The county would also oversee an additional $7.3 million (8% of the total), which it plans to use for townships, nonprofit organizations and businesses serving unincorporated areas. That leaves $34.7 million (37% of the total) for local municipalities.
Municipalities would receive the money on a per capita basis, using 2019 U.S. Census population estimates. There is already a dispute about those numbers. Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns suggested the 2010 actual Census numbers would be better while speaking Wednesday on behalf of a group that represents the combined interests of Kane County's local governments.
That disagreement may prove to be the final straw pushing the county board to an unprecedented abandonment of a task force created by county board Chairman Chris Lauzen. A sense of frustration about the slow movement of the task force has grown within the county board because the county received the funds on April 23. Every meeting of the task force since then has focused on the federal rules regarding how to spend the COVID-19 relief money.
County board members asked for more frequent meetings of the task force and a plan to use the money the first week of June. Two weeks later, with no plan forthcoming, some county board members floated their own plans for how to get the funds distributed to those who need it. And that would have meant ditching Lauzen's task force. Lauzen publicly denied any mutiny was in the works and insisted the task force would not only continue its work but expand its membership.
But when 19 of the 24 county board members signed onto a push for a special board meeting this Thursday to disband the task force, it became clear the body was in trouble. A notice then went out from Lauzen's office at 4:29 p.m. last Friday that the next meeting of the task force would include a plan to spend the funds and voluntarily disband the group.
Interviews with multiple board members indicated they saw Wednesday's task force meeting as a political version of quitting to save face before you get fired. The plan is to carry on with Thursday's special meeting and have the county board form its plan in time for final action at the July 14 full county board meeting, if not sooner.
Board member Jarett Sanchez said the late action shows the county board should have assumed control over the funds even sooner than it plans to tomorrow.
"Had the board been included from the get-go, we would have avoided this situation," Sanchez said. "Last week's task force meeting made it painfully clear that something else was needed.
Kane County Auditor Terry Hunt was the chairman of the task force. In an interview, Hunt said the county board has always had the ability to distribute the funds whenever and however its members chose. The task force was only in place to advise about the federal guidelines.
"The county board has always been in control of the process," Hunt said. "That really isn't a matter of perspective. The county board alone has the authority to create policy and to allocate funds in all situations, including the Coronavirus Relief Funds. The task force was never intended for that purpose, and we never presumed anything differently."