‘Pay your bills’: DuPage officials still at odds with county clerk over unpaid bills

A Carol Stream business owner is urging DuPage County Board members to pay their bills.

Brenda Baird-Watterson, CEO of Truly Engaging, attended a county board meeting this week to say that her company had to wait months to receive roughly $200,000 for the printing and mailing services it provided during the recent spring elections.

She called on the county board to pay other outstanding bills from the county clerk’s office.

It was not the first time Baird-Watterson publicly appealed to DuPage officials to pay vendors. For more than two years, County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek has been at odds with other county officials over how bills from her office get paid and what she can or can’t do with her budget.

As of Wednesday, the county clerk’s office has approximately $1.2 million in unpaid invoices, primarily related to this year’s elections.

“I don’t know what the infighting is,” Baird-Watterson told county board members this week. “Please pay your bills.”

In a written statement released Tuesday, Kaczmarek said she approved the payment to Truly Engaging “months ago.”

“There was never any legal justification for the county to withhold payment,” Kaczmarek said. “The only thing that changed in the past week was that the vendor sent an email to (county board) Chair (Deb) Conroy begging to get paid, and then suddenly a check appeared (Monday).”

Over the last two years, the county has argued that the county clerk has repeatedly failed to follow the proper procedure for payments to be made. However, Kaczmarek says state law gives her control over her office, and the county cannot delay payment when there is enough money in her overall budget.

A DuPage judge has been asked to weigh in on the issue. In September, the county filed a complaint that seeks to force the clerk’s office to comply with accounting procedures.

On Wednesday, the state’s attorney’s office filed a motion asking the judge to rule on the matter without a full trial.

“Both parties require a ruling for the Clerk’s vendors to be paid in a timely manner and to prevent the County from violating the Local Government Prompt Payment Act,” the county’s motion stated.

Since October, DuPage County Judge Bryan Chapman has entered three agreed orders directing payment on roughly $675,000 in bills from the county clerk’s office.

The latest motion seeks a final judgment to settle the main dispute — whether the county clerk has to follow the county’s accounting procedures.

Meanwhile, some county board members said they are frustrated about the ongoing dispute.

“To me, this is so frustrating that this is happening,” said Paula Deacon Garcia, a Lisle Democrat who heads the county board’s finance committee. “If the auditor is asking for something … just give it.”

County board member Dawn DeSart questioned why there are “roadblocks” to making payments, and suggested the county pay the bills, “and figure it out later.”

“I’m just really concerned that we are hurting small businesses,” said DeSart, a Naperville Democrat.

Conroy said DeSart should use her influence with the clerk’s office to get them to follow county procedures. “I believe that you going to the clerk’s office and asking them to cooperate would be very helpful,” she said.

The clerk’s office has until July 16 to reply to the county’s motion in court. A hearing is set for Aug. 19.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250613/news/pay-your-bills-dupage-officials-still-at-odds-with-county-clerk-over-unpaid-bills/