How we got here: A look at the ongoing billing dispute with the DuPage County clerk

Unpaid invoices. A change in state law. A lawsuit. And now, an unpaid credit card bill.

For more than 16 months, the DuPage County Board and County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek have been at odds over how bills get paid and what she can or can’t do with her office’s budget.

In a nutshell, the county insists that Kaczmarek must comply with the county’s accounting procedures — including filling out budget transfer requests when a line item runs short — to get bills paid. Kaczmarek, however, argues state law gives her control over her office — and the county board cannot delay payment of bills if there is enough money in her budget.

“You can still track on a line item level, but you can’t be restricted,” said Adam Johnson, chief deputy clerk.

“This board has proven that they will absolutely interfere in our operation any chance that they can get,” he added.

The debate has resulted in the late payment of hundreds of thousands in bills and a trip to Springfield to clarify state law on competitive bidding.

Now DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin is involved. He is pursuing a lawsuit asking a judge to compel Kaczmarek to comply with the county’s accounting procedures.

“The clerk and deputy clerk have made it very clear that their intention is to go to court, and we don’t have any other choice at this point,” DuPage County Board Chair Deborah Conroy said after the lawsuit was filed earlier this month.

The fight over bills became public during a May 2023 finance committee meeting after several county board members requested a discussion about 11 unpaid bills totaling more than $180,000. The board members voiced concern about the possibility of DuPage violating the state’s prompt payment act, which requires the payment of bills within 60 days.

Kaczmarek reacted by saying the county board cannot dictate how she handles money appropriated to her office.

“We’ve been questioning the line item limitations,” Kaczmarek said at the time, noting her office had $2.3 million remaining in its budget and could cover the bills. “The voters elected me to make the operational decisions about how the county clerk’s office should spend its money, not the county board.”

Kaczmarek, who has received recognition for changes she has made to the election division of the clerk’s office, appeared at a June 2023 county board meeting to make a brief statement and then left without answering questions. That meeting is the last time Kaczmarek has appeared before the county board.

The 11 bills eventually were paid. However, Kaczmarek continued to face scrutiny from board members, some of whom backed the idea of censuring the clerk or bringing criminal charges against her.

Last year, Conroy asked the state’s attorney’s office to investigate whether the election division could be removed from the county clerk’s office. She also threatened to go to Springfield to seek the reversal of a state law that allowed the former DuPage County Election Commission to merge with the clerk’s office.

Kaczmarek was never censured or charged, and the election division remains under her control. However, Conroy successfully pushed for a state law change that says countywide elected officials, such as the clerk, must follow competitive bidding procedures for services costing more than $30,000.

Earlier this month, DuPage County Auditor Bill White sent a memo regarding 16 unpaid bills totaling $270,264. Many of the bills are for election-related services.

In addition, a $4,800 credit card bill remains unpaid after a vote to transfer money from the county’s contingency fund to the clerk’s budget did not garner enough support from county board members on Sept. 24.

County board members who opposed the transfer argued the situation could be resolved if the clerk filled out a form to pull money from another line item in her budget.

Board member Jim Zay said state law allows the county board to set up accounting procedures for department heads and elected officials. He added that every department head and countywide elected official follows the county’s accounting procedures.

“We’re not asking them to do anything different than we’re asking every other countywide official, every other county division that we have,” Zay said. “I don’t understand why we continue to do this.”

Some board members, however, questioned the process and suggested a “breakdown in communication” has contributed to the problem. County finance officials, however, quickly rebuffed that concern, noting they’ve reached out to the clerk’s office on several occasions to no avail and that the clerk declined to engage in budget talks for the upcoming fiscal year.

In an email to the Daily Herald this week, Kaczmarek noted her budget has sufficient funds to cover her bills — including the $4,800 credit card bill. She argues the county is not processing bills in the same manner it had been before a change in the accounting system in 2023.

The lawsuit against the clerk is pending.

In the meantime, DuPage County Chief Judge Bonnie Wheaton is contacting the attorney general’s office, appellate prosecutor and neighboring state’s attorneys to see if they would be willing to take on the case to represent the county clerk — at no cost to the county, officials said.

If they decline, Wheaton will have to appoint a private attorney to represent the clerk. The county would have to foot the bill to pay that expense.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20240927/news/how-we-got-here-a-look-at-the-ongoing-billing-dispute-with-the-dupage-county-clerk/