Lake County 9-1-1 Authority previews 2026 budget; board weighs ETC increase, fund-balance use and staffing costs

The Lake County 9-1-1 Authority on Sept. 5 reviewed preliminary financial projections for 2026 and discussed capital and operational items tied to the county dispatch center. Authority staff presented a $1.1 million balanced projection and said revenue is modeled from the emergency telephone charge (ETC) and intergovernmental agreement (IGA) payments from user agencies.

The discussion matters because the authority must provide preliminary budget numbers to the county by Oct. 15 and the authority's budget affects interagency payments from fire, police and hospital partners, plus the authority's ability to fund training, retention incentives and capital upgrades.

Staff told the board the five-year projection shows $1,100,000 in revenues and expenditures for 2026, split with about $232,000 expected from the local emergency telephone charge and the remainder from IGA payments. The authority said it is also maintaining a fund balance and that money not spent in 2025 would carry forward; staff proposed using a combination of an ETC increase and limited fund-balance transfers to lower IGA payments in 2026. Board members asked for a final quarter-three…