3 top jobs cut in Montgomery County's budget proposal

Commissioners of Social Services and Public Works question plan

By Steven Cook
Gazette Reporter

December 17, 2001
FONDA - Three high-level positions in two departments have been cut in the Montgomery County Budget Committee's proposed 2002 budget.

The proposed cuts, given to supervisors last week, left the department heads in Social Services and Public Works questioning the reasoning behind the proposed changes.

"I have no idea at all why," Social Services Commissioner Robert Reidy said on Sunday when told of the possible elimination of the department's director of administrative services and director of social services. "Both those are very critical positions with employees that have been with the county for 30 years. I don't understand why they were eliminated."

Those two positions, along with the job of deputy commissioner of public works, are all proposed to be cut in the committee's budget. The three positions account for $128,293 in salaries in the budget.

The proposed committee budget has yet to be released publicly. A copy was obtained Sunday by The Daily Gazette.

The budget committee is scheduled to meet at 4 p.m. today to approve the proposal and send it to the full board. Supervisors have said they hope for final passage of a budget at Tuesday night's meeting. The budget adoption deadline is Thursday.

The committee's proposal, compiled outside the committee meetings from individual proposals by supervisors, reduces the proposed tax increase to as low as 6 percent, committee chairman Dominick Stagliano said last week. That compares to the 16.28 percent tax increase projected in the tentative budget. A total of $1.8 million is proposed to be cut by the committee.

Palatine Supervisor William Hisert, a Budget Committee member, said the panel had to consider positions in all departments in the face of a 16 percent tax increase.

Hisert declined to comment on Reidy's reaction to the cuts, saying "there will possibly be other discussion on that" at today's meeting.

The biggest changes came in Social Services and county road and capital project funds. Total appropriations for Social Services programs is proposed to be cut by $796,591 to a total of $17.7 million. Among the programs where cuts are proposed is Medicaid, which is targeted for $217,491 in reductions. Only rough estimates were available last week.

Reidy has projected Social Services will fall short by as much as $800,000 for the year 2001. He said he fears that will occur again if the program appropriations are reduced.

"I'm giving my professional best estimate on the expenses of the department," Reidy said. "I have no problem if the board opts to remove the money, as long as they know that when the bill comes, they need to find another source to draw money from."

Stagliano argued last week that the department has traditionally underspent its budget, prompting the reductions.

He could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

Another $605,011 is proposed for elimination in county road and capital projects.

Of that, $306,740, would be bonded for, while the $256,262 proposed to be cut from the road fund would mean that Public Works could not form a bridge maintenance crew, said Commissioner Paul Clayburn, who had also not seen the proposal. "It would help us to review that ahead of time," Clayburn said of just finding out about the proposed changes to his department Sunday. "But in the end, it's their budget and we have to live with it."

In all, approximately 14 full- and part-time positions are proposed to be cut from the budget, with six positions added, according to the committee proposal. Three of those cut are full-time dispatch positions that were proposed. They would be cut to part-time under the committee's plan.

Posted February 15, 2002