No resignation in sight for Rickert as he takes new CFO job in Winnebago County

KANE COUNTY – With no resignation in sight, it seems that Kane County Treasurer David Rickert will retain the post he’s held for 21 years a while longer – perhaps even for the two years remaining on his current term.

Rickert started a new job as chief financial officer for Winnebago County on Dec. 7, but was confirmed by a 19-0 vote on Dec. 10.

Rickert has not resigned his treasurer position with Kane County.

Rickert will be paid $122,500 as Winnebago’s chief financial officer, officials said. Rickert’s salary as Kane County Treasurer is listed at $99,990 for 2019.

So if he continues to receive salaries from both counties until the end of his term in Kane, he would earn about $222,490 annually for those two years.

Kane County Board Chair Corinne Pierog said she checked with the Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser and learned that “there is no legal mandate that an elected official shows up to work,” whether in person or remotely.

“Mr. Rickert can collect his salary from taxpayers as Kane County Treasurer,” Pierog said. “If he does not resign, there is nothing we can do.”

The hours an elected employee works only matters if the employee chooses to receive the state’s retirement benefits, then they have to work at least 35 hours a week, she said.

"It is this office’s opinion that the non-elected (employment) position of Chief Financial Officer for Winnebago County is not incompatible with the elected office of Kane County Treasurer," Mosser stated in an email.

Rickert did not respond to a text message nor a voice mail message asking whether he was going to keep or resign the treasurer position in Kane County.

Winnebago County Administrator Patrick Thompson confirmed that Rickert started his new job days before being voted in.

“I was very confident going into the board meeting that we had the support we needed,” Thompson said, of Rickert starting the job before being confirmed by the board.

“He’s very well qualified and he has experience over 20 years working as a county treasurer in a larger organization and many years of experience working in county finance,” Thompson said.

The Winnebago job is a 40-hour a week position, where Rickert is expected to be at work every day, Thompson said.

With a population of about 300,000 and an annual budget of about $150 million, Winnebago is smaller than Kane County in population and budget, Thompson said.

“Based on my understanding, he was very involved with the Kane County Finance Department and that was the kind of experience we were looking for,” Thompson said.

Rickert sent a letter to the Winnebago Candidate Selection Committee on Nov. 4, the day after he lost the chairmanship to Pierog.