County budget office outlines FY2026 process, compensation costs and alternate revenue scenarios

Lake County Budget Manager Michael Wheeler opened the joint Health and Community Services and Finance Administrative Committee hearing with an overview of the county administrator's recommended fiscal year 2026 budget and the timetable for final approval.

Wheeler said the recommended document assumes half of the allowable property tax growth under county policy and noted that an alternative scenario taking the full allowable levy increase would yield roughly $2.7 million in additional revenue for new program requests and contingency. "This budget actually includes those amounts," he said, referring to the compensation-study increases now built into department budgets for the full year.

Why it matters: building the compensation adjustments into operating budgets reduces the need for intra‑year transfers and clarifies department-level labor costs. Wheeler described a new collaborative peer-review in which department leaders presented and rated each other's new program requests before the county administrator made final funding recommendations, intended to improve cross‑department prioritization.

Details: Wheeler walked members through revenue assumptions (property taxes, intergovernmental revenue, charges for services and transfers) and the county's approach to budgeting personnel and vacancy savings. He also explained that budget approval occurs at the rolled‑up account-class level rather than at individual line items.

Outlook: The committees will continue hearings over two days; the full board is scheduled to consider the final budget on Nov. 18. Finance staff urged members to delay final action on amendments until the end of the second day so the board can assess aggregate impacts across committees.