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 than in recent years and that the city’s third distribution left collections at about 93% of the levy. She said she will make correcting reclassifications for two departmental lines (local use tax and state income tax entries) so the totals and bottom line are unaffected; she gave the corrected local use tax figure as $90,309.33.

On revenues and fund balances, Rogers said the general fund sits at about 51% of budgeted revenues year to date, boosted by the tax distributions, and that total salaries across departments are running at roughly 37% of budget — about 5 percentage points below what was budgeted. Overtime is running near 3.37% of budget. She also noted several small reclassifications needed for prepaid items, conference refunds and ambulance fee refunds; she said those entries will not change the overall totals but will correct department-level reporting.

Rogers reported that the capital fund balance rose after bond proceeds were received and that the capital account was about $8 million higher than the prior month once bond receipts were posted. On ARPA, she said the city now has "down under $2,000,000. We only have 1.779 to spend," describing the balance as $1.779 million and urging staff to keep projects moving so they can be completed before the federal deadline.

Committee members raised the mural program as an example of an ARPA-funded project that could be delayed by contractor availability; Rogers and other staff said they would monitor contractor timelines and follow up with grantees. The committee also discussed forthcoming retroactive salary payments for police sergeants and fire personnel that will affect future months’ spending and could change reported percentages.

The committee received a preliminary report on the recent general-obligation (GO) bond sale. A consultant, Bob Vale, will present final numbers to the council in the coming weeks. Rogers and other staff said the sale timing produced significant interest-rate-related savings. "From his projection of the cost in early August ... we are looking at a savings for the city of over $800,000," a committee speaker said; staff later referenced a figure "somewhere around $840,000," and Rogers said Vale would provide exact results at a future meeting, likely in November.

No formal action was taken on the financial statements. The meeting did record two routine procedural votes: approval of the September meeting minutes and adjournment. A voice vote approved the minutes (motion by Alderman Jones; second by Alderman Marzak) and later approved adjournment (motion by Alderman Jones; second by Alderman Navarez). Both votes were announced as unanimous among those present (4 yes, 3 absent).

The committee instructed staff to continue reconciling pension-earmarked funds and to monitor ARPA project timelines and contractor readiness so projects can meet federal expenditure deadlines. The consultant’s formal GO bond presentation and exact savings figures will be scheduled for a future council meeting in November.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to approve the Sept. meeting minutes — mover: Alderman Jones; second: Alderman Marzak; voice vote recorded as all in favor; tally provided in meeting as 4 yes, 3 absent; outcome: approved. - Motion to adjourn — mover: Alderman Jones; second: Alderman Navarez; voice vote recorded as all in favor; tally provided in meeting as 4 yes, 3 absent; outcome: approved.