Will County Board approves budget on party-line vote following pay increases for prosecutors, but not public defenders

By Michelle Mullins

Daily Southtown

•Published: 

Nov 17, 2023 at 11:43 am

The Will County Board approved an $814 million balanced total budget Thursday along party lines after Republicans objected to a last-minute amendment to use $350,000 in cash reserves to fund salaries in the state’s attorney’s office and the Regional Office of Education.

State’s Attorney James W. Glasgow’s office requested an additional $1.2 million to address challenges filling vacancies. Democrats approved a change to the budget Thursday, increasing the office’s funding to $1.5 million, with $300,000 of it coming from cash reserves. The Democrat-led changes also included $50,000 for an administrative position for the Regional Office of Education.

County Board Chair Judy Ogalla, a Republican from Monee, said it was irresponsible to take money from cash reserves to boost salaries, and said the board should handle salary increases in increments to be more fiscally responsible.

“I think the whole budget right now is a sham,” Ogalla said.

Board member Katie Deane-Schlottman, a Republican from Joliet, said she believed the board was “opening Pandora’s box” by using reserves for salaries.

The county has $82 million in cash reserves, which is within its targeted amount, said budget director ReShawn Howard.

Ogalla said the push to increase salaries in the state’s attorney’s office was in response to DuPage County raising the salaries in its office. DuPage County is fully staffed, so it’s not likely Will County employees will be hired for positions there, she said.

“I don’t want to be reactionary to what other counties do,” Ogalla said. “I don’t want to be like DuPage County. I want to be like Will County.”

Democrat Leader Jackie Traynere from Bolingbrook said the board has had repeated requests the state’s attorney’s office and the salary increases are necessary due to the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today, or SAFE-T Act, which took effect in September.

Before the vote on the budget, members of the public defender’s office, a separate entity, also requested raises so its attorneys would be paid comparable salaries.

Public Defender Michael Renzi said the judicial system relies on both prosecutors and defense attorneys, and there needs to be parity. A public defender may have 400 misdemeanor cases in a day, he said.

Jaya Varghese, the felony chief at the public defender’s office, said employees are receiving better offers in DuPage, Kane and Cook counties.

Renzi requested and received $250,000 to use for contract attorneys.

Howard said after the budget is passed, the board could create an amendment to address public defender salaries if it chose.

Jim Richmond, chair of the county board’s finance committee, said the board has to come up with a business solution to rectify the problems.

“It doesn’t matter what industry you are in, whether its government or private sector … we are fighting an uphill battle in every industry,” said Richmond, a Republican from Mokena. “I wish I could go to the store and buy another pie, but I can’t. We only have so much to work with.”

Richmond said the budget includes no cuts to county services and no cuts in staff. The county is in good fiscal health, he said.

The Will County sheriff’s office will receive $1.3 million to buy Tasers and a virtual reality simulator to practice using them. The Tasers replace those at the end of their usable life span, said Mike Theodore, a spokesman for the county executive’s office.

The budget includes $4 million to renovate the former Pace garage, 9 Osgood St., Joliet, which would accommodate the operational needs for the public defender, alternative courts and adult probation departments, Theodore said. By moving those offices into the renovated building, it will reduce the space the county leases and save about $400,000 a year, he said.

The Will County Health Department will use about $385,000 to modernize its call center and help accommodate its daily call volume of 382 calls.

The budget includes $100,000 to replace aging wireless equipment at Sunny Hill Nursing Home, and $240,000 to upgrade the radio system network for the Emergency Management Agency.