Kankakee budget committee reviews September 2025 finances, ARPA balance and bond-sale savings

KANKAKEE, Ill. — At its Tuesday, Oct. 14 meeting, the Kankakee City budget committee reviewed the city’s September 2025 financial statements, heard that property-tax collections after the third distribution are roughly 93% of levy, and was told the city has about $1.779 million in remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds available for projects.

The report from Comptroller Paula Rogers laid out revenue and expenditure trends and several line-item reclassifications she said she would make to correct misposted amounts. "We're 5 months into the budget. It should be about 42%," Comptroller Paula Rogers said, and added that expenditures typically track ahead of revenues early in the fiscal year.

The overview matters because the committee is balancing near-term cash needs, upcoming debt-service increases tied to pension-related borrowing, and spending deadlines for ARPA funds. Committee members and staff flagged timing risks for construction-dependent ARPA projects and long lead times for fire apparatus that could affect spending schedules.

Rogers told the committee that property-tax distributions had come in stronger…