DuPage County chair proposes $644.7 million balanced budget, $18.1 million sustainability fund to address food and housing needs

DuPage County Board chair presented the fiscal 2026 budget proposal to the county board, proposing a $644,700,000 balanced budget, a general fund of $263,100,000 and a $71,500,000 tax levy while proposing a new $18,100,000 DuPage Sustainability Initiative Fund to address immediate social-service needs and longer-term infrastructure and housing projects. "We will be fiscally responsible, and we will take care of people," the chair said during the address.

The proposal matters because the chair tied the plan to possible federal program cuts and recent state-level proposals that, the chair said, threatened county revenue and local control of regional transit funding. The plan is intended to use projected FY2025 surplus funds and FY2026 budget dollars to both respond to immediate needs and to invest in infrastructure that county officials say will protect vulnerable residents and county assets.

Most important elements of the proposal include: an $18,100,000 DuPage Sustainability Initiative Fund; $2,000,000 dedicated to immediate food support for pantries and meal distributors (a $1,000,000 FY2026 allocation plus a proposed $1,000,000 from FY2025 surplus); $2,500,000 proposed for the Loaves & Fishes Food Distribution Hub 2; a $10,000,000 housing…