Michael Isaac, executive director of the Kane County Public Health Department, presented the department's 2026 budget to the public-health committee on Aug. 20 and described the department's funding mix, program priorities and recent staffing changes.

Isaac told the committee the department budget includes $2,000,000 in opioid-settlement and related project funds in the coming year and that the county continues to receive settlement proceeds from lawsuits with manufacturers and pharmacies, though exact long-term amounts remain uncertain. He said those opioid-settlement funds are governed by a five-member allocation panel that includes the public-health director, the committee chair, the sheriff, the coroner and the state's attorney.

Isaac said the department's core public-health fund (Fund 350) covers most operations; Fund 351 ("CancaRes") supports a nurse-run home-visiting program with roughly $600,000 to $700,000 budgeted for that service, and Fund 355 holds ARPA behavioral-health allocations. He noted three programs moved into the health department from the Office of Community Reinvestment (Funds 404, 409 and 414), adding nearly $1 million in program funding.

Isaac said the department is budgeting differently for ARPA funds and including opioid funds in the departmental budget this year, which creates an unusual rise in contractual-services spending on the expense side. He said staff recently received notice that a federal grant of about $1 million was cut, and that the department eliminated five positions as a result; staff were reassigned where feasible so no one lost a job.

On staffing, Isaac said the health department employs "about 100" people and that last year the budgeted headcount was 125; the department took a more conservative staffing approach for the coming year given federal and state funding uncertainty.

Isaac listed capital and technology priorities: procuring a new electronic health record, upgrading environmental-health software to replace paper-based processes, and progressing planned renovations in Elgin. He also noted prepaid grant funds appear as fund-balance utilization in the budget and that some opioid monies already received are likewise reflected in fund balance.

Committee members asked about flexibility and reporting requirements for opioid-settlement funds; Isaac said the county must report revenue and spending to the state and follow outlined spending categories. He also told members that for the opioid-settlement fund the county has flexibility and is not required to spend the full amount within a very short timeframe.

Isaac said the department's mission remains improving health outcomes through assessment, policy, assurance and partnerships, and he asked the committee to view the budget within that operational context. The committee did not take a formal vote on the department-wide budget during the Aug. 20 meeting.