Tina Mackey presented the Will County Community Mental Health (708) Board's proposed 2026 budget and tax-levy request at the Will County Board Executive Committee meeting on Sept. 11, saying the board recommends a 0.04% levy to sustain newly funded programs and to restore a $4 million annual payment to the Will County Health Department. The board also proposes at least $5 million in grants for community programs and has included $1 million to support and expand fire-department '2community cares'2 initiatives.

Mackey told the committee the board has committed $5.1 million to the current 2025 grant cycle (April 15, 2025April 14, 2026) and that the board paid the Will County Health Department $3,750,000 at the start of the 2025 fiscal year. She said the board collected approximately $4 million in the first half of the levy and recommended restoring the $4 million stipend paid in the first year of the levy to sustain new programs, staff and services at the health department.

The 708 board presented five strategic priorities derived from a 2024 needs assessment: crisis supports and service gaps, intellectual/developmental disability (IDD) programs, suicide prevention, transportation and workforce development. Mackey highlighted several grantee achievements in the first quarter of the grant cycle: Casa of the River Valley's funding for attorney representation for children in family court; Little Friends' expanded respite program serving 75 children (including sibling supports); Mental Health Matters' assistance that moved about 70 individuals and families off a waiting list and into counseling; Heart Haven Outreach's 156 transportation rides for middle- and high-school participants; and Joliet Recovery Community Center's provision of mail services for people without a home address.

Mackey described the Joliet fire department's Community Cares program and a countywide collaborative that meets twice monthly, where providers coordinate around individual cases. She said the program's accountability mechanism'a spreadsheet maintained by a fire department social worker that tracks provider commitments and follow-up'has produced measurable results: 184 individuals and families had reached a more stable circumstance in the calendar year cited. The 708 board's proposed budget includes funding to expand this model and to add social-worker capacity where townships or departments lack it.

Committee members asked for additional detail. Member Berkowitz asked that a breakdown of the 2025 operating costs and membership fees be provided to the finance committee quarterly; Mackey agreed. Member Ocala asked for outcome data and for information on how many Will County residents each grantee serves; Mackey said quarterly reports require grantees to report the number of Will County residents served and that the original applications include detailed budgets and personnel data. Member Trenier and others asked about the board's levy request and whether grants are sustaining prior levels of services; Mackey said the board's scoring consultant ranks applications against the board's strategic priorities and that some small, focused providers (for example, those paying co-pays for individuals) were intentionally funded because they fill gaps not otherwise met.

Mackey said the 708 board currently budgets operating costs well under 1% of total expenditures (she cited a 2025 operating budget figure of about $347,000 and said operating is substantially less than 1% of the overall budget). She explained the proposed 0.04% levy would bring the board's projected tax take to a level finance estimates at roughly $12 million (the finance estimate was provided later in committee discussion). Mackey gave an illustrative household example using a $250,000 assessed home to show the per-household tax impact: about $9.50 per year at the proposed 0.04% levy.

Mackey and committee members agreed to follow up. Mackey said she will provide the finance committee with a detailed operating-cost breakdown, a copy of the grant application (the NOFO/Notice of Funding Opportunity) and quarterly reports showing counts of Will County residents served. No formal vote or levy adoption took place at the executive committee meeting; the presentation was an information item and the board asked the county board to consider the levy request at future proceedings.

Mackey closed by saying she would return to report intermediate achievements at the committee's December meeting and that grantees will submit required quarterly metrics on Oct. 15, Jan. 15 and April 15.