CROWN POINT | A report suggesting hundreds of job cuts in Lake County government is coming under fire before the ink is dry on its pages. (Download document)

The Lake County Council's Finance Committee is recommending job reductions and targeted layoffs in the sheriff's office, the courts and other agencies to cut public spending by $15 million because of state-mandated property tax reductions.

Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez said Wednesday he doesn't know how the six committee members arrived at recommendations that, if implemented, would cut $3.5 million from his budget by cutting 45 positions, eliminating the sheriff's Lake Michigan marine patrol, reducing county police patrols and eliminating take-home cars for uniformed officers.

"The committee recommendations were made in secret meetings to which we the Sheriff's Department was not invited," he said. "We were never asked for our advice despites years of cutting and saving money. It is extremely important that public safety isn't jeopardized by political agendas."

County Surveyor George Van Til said some of the more sweeping recommendations are a serious effort that deserve careful study.

However, he said some recommendations that target one office but not another "are the political pages in the report." He said some members of the finance committee who authored the recommendations are protecting their own turfs at the expense of others.

He lays his complaint at the feet of three committee members: County Auditor Peggy Holinga Katona, County Treasurer John Petalas and Christine Cid, Lake County Council president and a chief deputy in the county clerk's office.

Van Til said Tuesday afternoon, "I would assume the areas of biggest job cuts would follow the recommendations of the Good Government study and be in the clerk, treasurer and auditor's offices. That could accomplish almost half of the proposed 150 job cuts. If that's not true, then we should look at who was on the committee."

The Good Government Initiative, a privately financed examination of duplication and overstaffing in county government, released a study in 2007 with high praise for Van Til's operation. But it suggested cutting 20 full-time jobs in the auditor's office, 26 full-time jobs in the treasurer's office and 26 full-time jobs in the clerk's office.

Holinga Katona said in February she already has cut two full-time and six part-time jobs by attrition and expects to eliminate four more full-time and two more part-time positions by the end of 2008.

Petalas said he has eliminated four full-time and two part-time positions from his staff and intends to make more cuts in the coming months. He said Wednesday that every county office -- including Van Til's -- will have to make cuts to meet budget constraints.

Holinga Katona declined to comment regarding Van Til's specific criticisms, and Cid could not be reached for comment Wednesday.