County officials unable to agree on budget cuts

Comments (...)

E-mail this story

Print this story

Comments

Share

Kane County board members failed to reach an agreement on budget cuts during two private meetings Wednesday with officials from the sheriff’s department and its union representative.

Kane County Sheriff Patrick Perez said public safety will be jeopardized unless the two sides can reach a compromise. The department is being asked to cut $817,000 from the public safety budget for 2010. Perez said his department is already operating with a “bare bones” crew, from 95 officers down to 90, despite a growing population and higher crime rate. The board dismissed a proposal he submitted, which, combined with union concessions, would make up the deficit without reducing police services, he said.

Dennis Carroll, a deputy sheriff and union president representing the sworn non-management deputies and civilian employees of the department, said the sheriff’s office is already making great economic sacrifices. In a prepared statement, Carroll compared the number of deputies to McHenry County’s, which has 106 sworn deputies serving a population some 200,000 less than Kane’s.

According to Perez, the union was willing to defer contracted pay raises in order to keep more deputies on the job. And, non-union employees, who have already accepted pay freezes, were willing to match all concessions made by the union.  

But instead, Perez said, the board told them to “give up the idea of any raises.”

Another point of contention is the distribution of state funding. Perez asked the board to use $500,000 received from the state’s RTA Tax, which had originally been earmarked for new police vehicles, to be spent on operating costs since the department recently secured a $225,000 federal grant that can be put toward new vehicles. 

"It would be more beneficial to the citizens we serve to forego purchasing new vehicles and use the $500,000 … to provide service to the citizens of Kane County,” he said. 

But so far, he said, the board is not willing to amend its policy, though state law would allow it.

Adding fuel to the fire, Perez said, he was informed by Kane County Auditor Bill Keck that by mid-month, the Sheriff’s department will exceed its 2009 budget and that Keck has been ordered not to pay any outstanding bills for the rest of the year.

While the Sheriff’s office has a no-strike clause with the county, if employees are not paid, it could result in a “lockout,” Perez said.

The two sides must meet again before the end of the month, when the budget is scheduled to be finalized.

Attempts to reach County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay were unsuccessful before press time on Wednesday.

Comments