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LaSalle County committee raises Fund 42 retiree payout to $425,000 and forwards budget to finance
Summary
The Salary and Labor Committee approved increasing the Fund 42 retiree payout line from $350,000 to $425,000 and forwarded the revised budget to the finance office after staff projected higher retiree payouts for fiscal 2026.
On July 23, 2025, the LaSalle County Board Salary and Labor Committee approved a change to Fund 42 in the county general fund, increasing the retiree payout line from $350,000 to $425,000 and forwarding the revised budget to the finance office.
Committee members said the change is intended to cover retiree cash-outs for accrued vacation and sick time; county staff told the committee that actual payouts this year have already exceeded initial estimates.
Melissa, a county staff member, told the committee that Fund 42 is “pretty small and concise” and that the county piloted separate line items for retiree payouts and for active employees who cash out vacation. She said, "To date this year we, well through October we'll have 25 retirees in the current calendar fiscal year." Melissa said the county has already paid about $210,000 from the current line and that, with projected retirements through October, total retiree-related payouts could reach about $400,000 without further adjustment. She further said the vacation payout line remains at $100,000 and that current spending on that line is $53.08.
Committee discussion focused on how many employees might retire and how to budget conservatively for payouts. Tom Burke asked for a larger cushion and suggested boosting the retiree payout line further; the committee then instructed staff to increase the line and forward the updated Fund 42 budget to finance. The committee approved the revised Fund 42 budget by roll call: Tom Walsh — aye; Mike McHenry — aye; Kathy Bright — aye; Chairman Jensen — aye; James (Jim) Bailey — aye. The motion passed and the packet will be delivered to the auditor's office and forwarded to county finance staff for inclusion in the 2026 budget process.
Melissa also noted the payroll line includes a 3.5 percent adjustment and said she did not change other fund lines for 2026. The committee left the vacation payout line at $100,000.
The committee's change is a budgetary adjustment and does not itself authorize any employee compensation actions beyond providing the funding mechanism; staff will continue to transfer actual retiree payout costs from Fund 42 into the affected department payroll lines via the auditor's office as payments are made.
