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Finance director warns Kane County general fund gap could exhaust reserves by 2027
Summary
Finance Director Kathy Hopkins told the committee that the county’s general fund shows a projected shortfall and that continued use of fund balance to cover operating expenses could deplete reserves by 2027. She urged early action in the 2026 budget process.
Kathy Hopkins, Kane County finance director, told the Finance and Budget Committee on April 20 that the county’s general fund faces a structural gap and that continued reliance on fund balance will exhaust the fund by 2027 unless the board reduces expenses or increases revenues.
Hopkins said the county’s 2025 general fund budgeted expenses are roughly $140.4 million while new revenues are about $112 million, leaving a gap of approximately $27 million. She said those numbers reflect the county’s current amended budget and that, without corrective steps, the general fund’s reserved balance will decline steadily over the next two years.
Hopkins walked committee members through multiple charts showing historical interest earnings (now projected at roughly $15–18 million for the current year compared with about $21.6 million in 2024) and the county’s cash balances. She explained that much of the large fund‑balance increase in recent years resulted from one‑time federal funds (CARES and ARPA) that temporarily covered payroll costs for certain operations; those sources have largely ended.
Committee members and staff discussed a range of options: reallocating eligible restricted special funds, tightening hiring and spending controls, pursuing attrition rather than layoffs, and asking departments and elected offices to propose reductions. Hopkins recommended an early start to the 2026 budgeting process so departments can enter their budgets and the committee can evaluate options; she noted the county typically aims to have a draft budget to the finance committee by July for public display and an adopted budget by late November.
The committee agreed to schedule a special finance meeting to develop concrete reduction proposals and to request detailed program-level information from departments, including which programs are grant‑funded or mandated and which are discretionary.
