A CLOSER LOOK 

BUDGETS

PERSONNEL

Management Changes

Solicitor
In 2020, the decades long tenure of Solicitor Tom Whiteman came to an end. His replacement was Nicole Forzato. We see the Solicitor budget jump in 2021 and 2022 when Forzato started making changes to the department. However, her tenure as Solicitor was short-lived as she was appointed as a Judge on the Court of Common Pleas in 2022. In 2023, the county commissioners appointed Colleen Frens as the new (and current) solicitor for Chester County. In 2024, under Ms. Frens’ leadership, the department’s budget jumped another 36%.

Voter Services
We see pretty steady budgets for this department, aside from Presidential election years, until four years ago. In 2021, the county commissioners hired a new Director of Voter Services, Karen Barsoum. For the next couple of years, we see about 20% increases in the department budget. That budget almost doubled (82%) for the 2024 Presidential election. However, it only decreased by 15% for this year’s municipal election rather than going back to 2023 levels. It is also noteworthy that there has been almost a 100% turnover rate in personnel within the department since 2021.

Department Expansion

Solicitor
In 2023, under the direction of Colleen Frens, the Solicitor’s Office divided and expanded into three distinct units:

• Freedom of Information & Protection of Privacy
• Litigation
• Compliance

Although the top line of the department mission statement indicates the priority to be litigation (i.e., prosecuting lawsuits on behalf of the county and defending lawsuits brought against the county), it seems the majority of the department’s budget (over $500,000) is spent on Compliance.

The second largest expense belongs to the Freedom of Information & Protection of Privacy division. These attorneys decide if legislatively prescribed public records are actually permitted to be seen or provided to the public when requested. Hours are spent writing briefs to the PA Office of Open Records, the Court of Common Pleas, and Commonwealth Court opposing the release of public records and appealing court decisions on the matters. Clearly, Ms. Frens takes a different view on these issues than the long-serving Mr. Whiteman and her budget needs show it!

Voter Services
In 2023, Karen Barsoum divided and expanded her department, much like the Solicitor’s Office did. Rather than having two areas of focus, they moved to four:

• Voter Registration
• Candidate Education
• In-Person Voting
• Mail-In Voting

With the several newly created department sections came new policies, procedures, and equipment, all of which increased the budget beyond the personnel numbers. The County Commissioners laud the impeccable elections run by this department, yet voters still have questions about the department practices. The division of responsibilities within Voter Services does not lend itself to increasing the institutional knowledge, which was lost with the high turnover rates, nor reestablishing a team approach, which was successfully used for years within the department.

Bottom line…

Taxpayers expect elected leaders to be good stewards of our contributions to a well functioning government. Yet, both the Voter Services Department and the Solicitor’s Office continue to receive more of your tax dollars each year for their budgets. Budgets increase; salaries increase; department sizes increase. And, Chester County increased your taxes to pay for it all. Have they lost sight of accountability to the taxpayers and the voters? Have the publicly elected leaders and hired department heads inspired confidence in their competence? You decide!