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Lake County committees approve Workforce Development’s expanded $8.99M FY2026 budget
Summary
Lake County’s Health & Community Services and Finance committees voted to approve the Workforce Development department’s recommended fiscal year 2026 budget of $8,985,501, which county and department leaders say reflects a methodological change to include federal WIOA funds and a 24% rise in formula funding.
Lake County’s Health & Community Services and Finance committees voted to approve the Workforce Development department’s recommended fiscal year 2026 budget of $8,985,501. The budget, presented at the joint hearing Oct. 21, includes changes in accounting practice to incorporate federal WIOA formula funds into the department’s annual budget and a 24% increase in the program’s base formula allocation.
Jennifer Serino, director of Workforce Development, said the increased WIOA formula allocation reflected a state-level adjustment and was driven in part by Lake County’s recent unemployment trend. “The increase is due to the State of Illinois receiving an increase in their funding, which then translated to us receiving an increase,” Serino said. She added that additional funding will be used for participant wages, tuition and flexible assistance including transportation and childcare to increase training and placement.
The budget documentation allocates roughly $5 million—about 56% of the department’s total—for direct participant costs such as wages, tuition and financial assistance. Staff highlighted line items that drive the budget: participant laptops, summer youth wages, tuition for occupational training and on-the-job training grants for employers. Serino said many of the department’s services rely on federal grants and noted contingency planning: “All of the federal grants we have have been awarded…. This grant goes until June 2027,” she said, describing the two-year grant cycle for the department’s base WIOA funding.
Committee members asked about the department’s contingency plans if federal funding falls. Serino described partnerships with community colleges, school districts and community-based organizations to preserve core services and strategies to contract and obligate funds in ways that stretch across multiple years. The joint committees approved the recommended budget on voice votes during the meeting.
Looking ahead, department leaders said they will continue tracking the stability of federal and state disbursements and focus on maintaining program continuity for participants and employers.
