The Kane County Board is continuing work on the county’s fiscal year 2027 budget.
On Wednesday, the board’s Finance Committee recommended for approval a measure to put a draft of next year’s budget on display for the public to see. If granted final approval by the full board next month, that measure could have the county putting a draft budget on display as early as July — more than four months before the deadline for the budget to be approved.
Like last year, the county board’s recent budget-making efforts have largely centered around addressing a looming budget shortfall in the county’s general fund, which the board has been solving since 2023 by dipping into the county’s cash reserves.
But using reserves to balance the county’s annual budget won’t be an option forever, county staff members have cautioned, warning that the county must make significant cuts or find new revenue before 2027 to avoid going into its required 90-day reserves.
One possible solution was a 0.75% sales tax referendum question, but it was overwhelmingly shot down by voters in 2025
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.During the budgeting process last year, in the wake of the referendum question’s failure, the board took a variety of measures to close the gap, but ultimately ended up using about $6 million in cash reserves to balance the county’s fiscal year 2026 budget. That amount, however, is down from about $27 million used to balance the county budget the year prior.
This year, the county board has indicated that it plans to use little to no reserves to balance the fiscal year 2027 budget, tasking members with finding other ways to balance it.
Notably, the draft budget proposed for this year does not at this point use any of the county’s cash reserves, compared to around $6.4 million set to be used to balance the 2026 budget, county documents show.
The board also appears to be moving at a faster clip than recent years when it comes to getting the budget process rolling.
Last year’s budget was approved in mid-November, as was the county’s 2025 budget. The board has until Dec. 1 each year to approve the county’s annual budget.
This year, however, the county board has indicated that it is looking to approve a 2027 budget as early as August.
But the proposed budget has to first undergo public review and feedback before it can be approved, which is why the board is looking to pass a measure putting the draft budget on display first.
Following the recommendation for approval by the Finance Committee on Wednesday, the measure will be considered by the board’s Executive Committee. If recommended for approval there, it would then go on to the full board for final approval in July. The draft budget would go on display after the measure is OK’d by the full board.
The draft budget, once it’s approved by the board, is set to be available for public viewing on the county’s website, with hard copies available in the County Board Office and County Clerk’s Office.
In recent months, as they prepare to pass a budget for next year, board members have taken steps like reallocating some of the county’s mass transit sales tax funds and asking county elected offices and departments to reduce their respective budgets. They’ve also mulled other fixes, like cutting weight-loss drugs from employee health insurance plans, a move that could save the county around $1.5 million annually.
The county’s budget is broken largely into two sections, the general fund and the various special funds, which represent dollars that are restricted to certain uses. The general fund is the fund that has been facing a shortfall.
The draft budget the board is proposing for 2027 includes about $131.6 million in spending from the county’s general fund. That’s about $1.4 million higher than the county’s 2026 amended budget.
But that number is — at least at this point — balanced with the county’s expected revenue, thereby not requiring the county to further spend down its reserves. County figures project the general fund’s balance starting out fiscal year 2027 at about $38.4 million.
This past year, the county was set to use more than $6 million in reserves to balance the 2026 budget, county documents show.
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Like past years, the county’s elected offices — like the Sheriff’s and State’s Attorney’s — make up the bulk of the county’s proposed general fund spending for 2027. Based on the 2027 submitted budget numbers, elected offices’ spending is set to amount to around $86.4 million, according to figures provided by the county. The county’s departments are set to spend a little under $20 million, and around $25.3 million in other costs — like health and dental contributions for employees and debt service — make up the rest.
The county’s other non-general fund expenses total a little over $271 million in the draft budget, making for a total of just under $403 million in projected spending for fiscal year 2027, according to the figures from the county.
In comparison, the budget ultimately passed by the board last year was a little under $409 million.
Though the measure to put the draft budget on display was recommended for approval Wednesday, board member Leslie Juby said at the committee meeting that she was “a little disappointed that some of the offices … did not do what (the board) asked them to do” in terms of reducing their expenses.
But board member and Finance Committee chair Bill Lenert said the county’s elected officials and department heads were “very good about complying with” the board’s requests to reduce their respective budgets.
Lenert said that there “may be one or two adjustments that (the county) will be making somewhere down the road,” but emphasized the fact that the proposed budget at this point is balanced.
And, as the county’s offices and departments determine how they will operate with the money they’re being allocated for next year, Lenert also pointed out that a benefit of passing the budget earlier than usual is that it gives elected officials and department heads “three to four to maybe even five months to prepare for 2027 and, through attrition, possibly make those adjustments.”