Chris Lauzen: 2022 candidate for Kane County Treasurer

Bio

Party: Republican

Office sought: Kane County Treasurer

City: Aurora

Age: 69

Occupation: CPA Tax Specialist

Previous offices held: Illinois State Senator 1993-2012, Kane County Board Chairman 2012-2020

Q&A

Q: Why are you running for this office? Is there a particular issue that motivates you?

A: On behalf of Kane County taxpayers, in addition to executing the statutory duties of the office, I'm running for Treasurer to increase interest earned on our county investment reserves, help Board Members who wish to reduce unnecessary spending, and to implement treasury management national best practices.

My particular motivating issue is reducing the strain of higher property taxes on homeowners and small business owners, as I did as Kane County Chairman. If elected, my top three priorities will be:

Earn an extra $2,000,000 more (!) in interest income per year than is currently being earned on our reserves.

Serve as "taxpayer advocate" to minimize wasteful government spending by providing taxpayers and County Board members with accurate and understandable information about tax revenue and expenditures. And, if elected, our team will assist property taxpayers in using every legal exemption and deduction they're entitled to.

Gather and implement county treasury management national best practices by maintaining and strengthening our competent and productive staff serving Kane County.

Please visit www.lauzen.com for more details.

Q: If you are an incumbent, describe your main contributions. Tell us of any important initiatives you've led. If you are a challenger, what would you bring to the position and what would your priority be?

A: There's an adage "Talk is cheap"; nowhere is this more true than in politics. The difference between political campaign promises and actual governing performance can be seen in a candidate's historical record.

During the 8 years that you elected me Board Chairman and Chief Administrator, serving 532,000 residents through the work of 24 Board members and 1400 employees, we:

Froze the property tax levy of County and Forest Preserve,

• Reduced bond debt by 70%,

• Fully-funded public pension obligations at 98%, and

• 100% transparency of finances and appointments (on the internet).

Additionally, I bring a unique background of knowing the intricacies of legislative processes and actual state/federal statutes by serving for 20 years in the Illinois State Senate on all of the financial committees and as co-chairman of the Bi-Partisan Legislative Audit Commission.

Very importantly, working with a previous county treasurer, we helped pass Illinois law that empowers Illinois county treasurers to use highest-grade, short-term corporate bonds to improve returns on county investments ... an advantage for taxpayers currently not being used in Kane County(!).

Q: What special qualifications does a county treasurer need that may not apply to other county offices? What professional qualifications or experiences do you possess that will help ensure your success as treasurer?

A: A highly-qualified treasurer candidate, who is ready on Day 1 to hit the ground running to improve service to county residents, requires experience that is broad, deep, and specific to Kane County and Illinois public service.

My educational and proven certification experience has been focused from the beginning on accounting, finance, and management as an honors graduate (cum laude) from Duke University, successful applicant through a three-day certified public accountant (C.P.A.) examination supervised by the University of Illinois, and MBA graduate from Harvard's Business School.

I learned the true meaning of customer and constituent service under competitive circumstances during 10 years of private industry experience starting an accounting and tax firm from scratch with my wife, Sarah; growing it to serve more than 200 monthly small business clients; and then, successfully selling it.

During the 8 years you elected me to serve as County Board Chairman and Chief Administrator, we proved that together we could meet all of our services and financial obligations without asking you, the taxpayers, for more.

These are broad, deep, and specific qualifications.

Q: Name one concrete program you'll create or personnel move you'll make to improve efficiency in the office or make it more successful. Explain how it will be funded and how you will overcome any obstacles to initiating it.

A: The $250,000,000+ in County investment reserves represent our collective county taxpayer "life savings." Up until April of this year, the County's current administration was earning approximately only one-half (1/2) of one penny of interest for the entire previous year (0.005) on those investment reserves. This is unacceptable.

I am running to correct this deficiency.

It is only the first (and easiest) step to know WHAT to do in our current situation. Even more important is to know HOW to do it and WHO to ask for help.

We need to "open the books" and ask for outside help.

Based on my experience and performance as a successful small business tax accountant and certified public accountant (CPA), service in the Illinois State Senate, and Kane County Board Chairman, Gwen Henry the 16-year distinguished DuPage County Treasurer invited me to participate in the evaluation and selection process for her investment advisers in 2022. I will build upon that WHAT, HOW, and WHO.

Visit Lauzen.com and Chris Lauzen on Facebook.