KANE COUNTY, Ill. — Kane County’s Finance and Budget Committee voted to set an expense ceiling of $124,766,071 for the 2026 general fund on Aug. 27, approving a package intended to sharply reduce the county’s reliance on reserves while requiring department managers to reduce spending.

The committee approved the resolution 5–1 after more than an hour of discussion on whether to balance the budget by using $3.5 million in reserves or by imposing deeper, roughly 11 percent cuts across departments.

The approved figure is the total allowable expense the county will use as its working baseline for the 2026 budget. Committee members and staff said the number is not immutable — departments may still request reallocations within that ceiling, but the committee’s position is to hold the overall total steady as it moves the plan to executive committee review.

Why it matters: County staff say revenue collections and contractual obligations leave a gap between expected revenues and proposed expenses. The committee’s decision reduces the county’s planned draw on fund balance compared with prior years but accepts a nonzero use of reserves to avoid sharp service reductions across smaller departments.

What the committee discussed: Finance staff and the working group presented multiple alternatives, including a zero‑reserve balanced budget that would require deeper cuts. One committee member proposed amending the resolution to increase the targeted reduction to about 11 percent to reach a zero‑reserve budget; that amendment failed on a 1–5 vote. Supporters of the approved resolution said it represented the best practical compromise after considering department requests and the county’s need to maintain core functions.

Process and next steps: Committee members said they will forward the expense ceiling to the executive committee and then to the full county board. Staff cautioned that some departments had not yet submitted final budget numbers and that the total could be adjusted internally among departments if necessary. The committee asked board members to continue proposing specific savings or revenue ideas (including modest fee increases, grant opportunities and targeted cuts) before final adoption.

Balance versus reserves: Finance staff indicated the county budget had originally been modeled to use $27.5 million of reserve funds; the committee’s plan reduces that planned draw and aims to shrink the county’s reliance on reserves sharply relative to prior years. Committee members emphasized that the 2026 ceiling is intended to be a working baseline and that the board may later consider targeted investments (for example, in technology) funded from reserves if a clear multi‑year return on investment is demonstrated.

Meeting context: The committee’s discussion was long and at times pointed, reflecting competing pressures from elected offices and department heads that said further cuts would jeopardize mandated services and from board members pressing for deeper reductions to avoid drawing on reserves.

Ending note: With the expense ceiling set, county staff will finalize revenue estimates and return to the board with recommended allocations, any amendments and the technical steps needed to enact required reductions within individual departments.