Lake County committee approves $17.996 million FY2026 enterprise IT budget

The Lake County Technology Committee on Oct. 21 approved the recommended fiscal year 2026 enterprise information technology budget totaling $17,996,008, a decrease of $540,167 (about 3%) from FY2025, by voice vote.

The reduction was attributed to lower contractual spending in staff augmentation after completion of temporary support engagements tied to major technology efforts, including enterprise system implementations and enhanced cybersecurity controls. "The FY 20 26 recommended budget for enterprise IT totals $17,996,008, which is a decrease of $540,167 or approximately 3% from f y 20 25," presenter Nick said during the committee meeting.

Why it matters: Committee members and county IT leaders said the budget prioritizes sustaining daily operations, ongoing software and application support, and recent cybersecurity and infrastructure modernizations. Chris Blanding, Lake County chief information officer, thanked staff and the County Administrator—s Office and said the budget "allows us…