Politics & Government

DuPage Chairman Presents FY 2013 Budget

DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin presents budget for fiscal year 2013.

DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin on Tuesday presented a budget for fiscal year 2013, with a spending plan of about $431.8 million.

The proposed budget is an $8.1 million reduction from FY 2012, and includes cuts in full-time personnel and $16.9 million appropriated for campus and county-wide improvements, including the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.

Cronin said county savings from the Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP) are around $800,000, and the budget reflects significant cost savings as a result of evaluating operations of the 24 independent agencies in the county.

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According to a press release, one of the largest challenges for the county is the cost of employee pensions, accounting for $30 million in the annual budget. Cronin said the board made "significant changes" to employee benefits, projected to save taxpayers more than $20 million.

"Several agencies have eliminated the use of credit cards, cell phones and other unneeded expenses," Cronin said.

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He said at the County Board meeting Tuesday that DuPage County will receive state funds next year to pay for infrastructure projects.

The reforms in the budget include:

  • Saving taxpayers nearly $600,000 over the next three years at the Election Commission due to staff cuts and shared services with County  government;
  • Increasing accountability and transparency in 14 of the 24 agencies by adopting the County’s ethics ordinance;
  • Eliminating the use of credit cards, cell phone and other unnecessary expenses by several agencies;
  • Updating procurement and hiring practices by several agencies; and
  • Posting meeting agendas and minutes online by five agencies.

“Based on the results of this analysis, I launched the ACT Initiative (Accountability, Consolidation and Transparency) last spring. Rather than allowing the reports to sit on a shelf and collect dust, we are taking action which has produced some significant results,” Cronin said in a statement.

Information courtesy of DuPage County.

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