Finance committee weighs RTA reallocation, riverboat funds and property-tax levy to close $30 million shortfall; 90-day reserve ordinance fails

Kane County Finance and Budget Committee members met June 25 to confront a projected budget shortfall and consider a menu of revenue options and internal reallocations aimed at closing roughly a $30 million gap on a $140 million operating budget.

The discussion centered on four principal options: (1) a property-tax levy (PTL) increase the committee estimated could yield about $2 million; (2) reallocating a portion of the regional transit authority (RTA) sales-tax distribution now earmarked for transportation to public safety (the committee’s proposal would shift as much as 25 percentage points, producing an estimated $6.85 million); (3) redirecting an additional $1 million of riverboat (casino) funds to the general fund instead of external partners; and (4) considering a local motor-fuel tax increase as a longer-term revenue source. Members also debated an ordinance that would codify a three-month (90-day) minimum reserve for the general fund; that ordinance failed on a committee vote.

Why this matters: committee members and staff warned that continuing to rely on one-time transfers and reserves will leave the county exposed to cash shortfalls in the months before property-tax distributions arrive (June and September). Finance staff projected year-end available fund balance near $60 million but said the county has used reserves in recent years and could finish future years below a prudent reserve level unless changes are made.

Treasurer Chris Lawson, King County treasurer, and Kathy Hopkinson, Kane County finance director, framed the committee’s options with revenue and cash-balance data. Lawson said the treasurer’s office had reported unusually strong interest income in recent months—$11.85 million in one month—and that investment activity and timing of tax receipts have materially increased short-term cash. “We collect more in property taxes this year than last—$1.6 billion versus $1.5 billion in the broader pool—and that increases balances temporarily but does not eliminate the structural gap,” Lawson told the committee, adding that some of the reported interest represents funds briefly held for distribution to other taxing bodies.

Hopkinson presented the finance office’s regular budget slides and cautioned that the county has been using reserves for multiple years. She told the committee that after the first property-tax transfer in mid-June the combined general-fund accounts held roughly $55–57 million and are forecast to end the fiscal year near $60 million. “If we budget another year that uses $30 million in reserves, we will end the year below the 90-day target,” Hopkinson said, noting that some prior-year transfers (COVID-era funds and closed grant balances) had masked underlying structural shortfalls.

On the RTA reallocation, members debated tradeoffs between short-term general-fund relief and the transportation department’s multiyear capital program. Committee member and transportation chair Pete Tepe said KDOT has assembled a five-year project list showing which projects would be cut if RTA allocations were reduced; he said staff would distribute that list to the full board. Transportation and public-safety funding choices are not precluded by state law, but the statute restricts RTA revenue to transportation or public-safety purposes; how counties allocate within those categories is a local policy decision. The committee’s draft plan—2,000,000 from a PTL adjustment, 6,850,000 from RTA reallocation and 1,000,000 from riverboat funds—would push the general-fund revenue projection toward roughly $122.5 million.

Several members said shifting RTA money will force significant project reductions. Tepe and KDOT said they already had lists showing the projects that would be removed from the five-year plan; KDOT staff committed to sharing the list with the board. Committee member Dale Berman and others warned that frequent changes to multi-year capital funding would complicate planning and could delay projects important to public safety and transportation.

A closely watched ordinance to convert the board’s 90-day general-fund reserve policy into county code failed on a committee vote. Opponents said the change would lock a rule into law that the county would not meet twice a year—before major property-tax receipts—and that an ordinance with no enforcement mechanism would not solve the underlying structural gap. Supporters argued that codifying a reserve would impose needed fiscal discipline.

The committee did approve a one-year-limited amendment to the RTA allocation policy: the committee voted to authorize a modified RTA split for fiscal 2026 (amendment language instructs staff to treat the change as applicable in the next budget year and to return for review). That amendment passed on a committee roll call after a floor amendment limited the change to fiscal 2026 (members agreed to review the policy annually).

Public comment framed the fiscal debate. A resident who identified herself as Mavis told the committee the county faces a “$30,000,000 deficit” and urged fiscal restraint, arguing that tax increment financing (TIF) extensions had diverted funds that could have addressed the shortfall. Other residents urged transparency on TIF districts, county staffing and benefit costs, and questioned whether the board should accept pay increases during a budget crisis.

Next steps: committee members directed staff to continue analysis and to present detailed options in July. The committee chair and finance staff said they would circulate KDOT’s list of projects affected by any RTA reallocation and provide a prioritized menu of expense and revenue alternatives for the full board to consider.

Votes at a glance (actions taken by the Finance & Budget Committee during the June 25 meeting): - Resolution approving May 2025 claims paid, $7,345,057.98 — approved by unanimous consent (motion and second recorded; roll call affirmative). (motion: approve claims; mover: not specified; second: Sanchez; outcome: approved; notes: unanimous consent) - Resolution authorizing renewal of contract with Tony Kartree (10% renewal) — approved (mover: Leonard; second: Somoose; outcome: approved) - Resolution approving 2026 monthly health and dental contribution rates — approved (mover: Surgis; outcome: approved) - Resolution transferring appropriation and budget adjustment within Fund 558 (North impact fees) — approved (mover: Deputy; outcome: approved) - Resolution authorizing HUD Homeless Management Information System grant (program year 02/2025) — approved ($118,051; mover: Sanchez; second: Tepe; outcome: approved) - Resolution ratifying emergency purchase with MGT Impact Solutions LLC for workforce development fiscal manager (state grant-funded) — approved (mover: Sanchez; second: Deputy; notes: funded entirely by state grant; outcome: approved) - Resolution authorizing budget adjustment transferring funding from Health Department to State’s Attorney’s Office for crisis-collaboration liaison — approved (mover: Sanchez; second: Juvy; outcome: approved) - Ordinance to set a 90-day (three-month) minimum general-fund reserve (convert policy to ordinance) — failed on committee vote (motion: adopt ordinance; mover: Leonard; outcome: failed; notes: concerns committee would knowingly be in violation twice yearly before property-tax receipts) - Resolution revising RTA sales-tax allocation (amended to apply to fiscal 2026 only) — amendment to limit change to fiscal 2026 passed; amended resolution passed on committee vote (outcome: approved as amended; vote recorded as 4 yes / 2 no on amendment) - Resolution directing CPI (consumer price index) increase to be used in budget process — failed on committee vote (outcome: failed)

Ending: The committee scheduled follow-up work in July. Members asked staff for a one-page dashboard of the largest policy options (PTL revenue estimate, RTA allocation scenarios, riverboat funding alternatives, and the motor-fuel tax increment estimate) so the full county board can weigh trade-offs ahead of final budget votes.