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Finance committee cuts radio-services spending, reduces related levy request
Summary
Stephenson County Finance Committee voted to trim the radios and service line in the highway/public-safety budget from $70,000 to $5,000 and reduce the corresponding real-estate tax request by $65,000. The committee framed the change as a reallocation of scarce capital that could instead support road projects and other priorities.
Stephenson County Finance Committee members voted Friday to reduce the radios and service line in the FY2026 budget from $70,000 to $5,000 and to reduce the related real-estate tax request by $65,000.
Adrian, a county staff member presenting the budget, told the committee the original $70,000 line was included to help build a new radio tower intended to improve radio coverage in outer parts of the county. Committee members pressed for alternatives and asked whether the proposed tower was needed immediately or could be funded later or shared among partner agencies.
The committee’s discussion focused on trade-offs between radio infrastructure and road projects. Several members said the highway department’s supplemental requests for roadwork made preserving capital for roads a higher near-term priority than the new tower. A motion to reduce the radios/service allocation and trim the corresponding real-estate tax request carried on a voice vote.
The committee’s action does not itself approve any construction or interagency cost-sharing agreement for a new tower; members noted the sheriff, EMA and 9-1-1 board had discussed contributing and that any formal cost splits remained to be finalized. Adrian said the sheriff had agreed verbally to contribute a quarter of the tower cost but that the arrangement had not been approved by those partner entities.
The committee directed staff to adjust the revenue and expense lines to reflect the $65,000 reduction and to track how that change affects other funds and supplemental requests that might need reallocation.
