Kendall County adopts $53.8 million FY2026 budget and lowers county tax rate
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Summary
The Kendall County Commissioners Court adopted a $53,838,754 FY2026 budget with auditor-proposed changes and approved a reduced county tax rate of 0.377 per $100 taxable value. The budget passed 4–1; the tax rate votes (maintenance & operations and debt service) passed unanimously.
The Kendall County Commissioners Court on Aug. 26 adopted a $53,838,754 fiscal year 2026 budget and approved a county property tax rate of 0.377 per $100 of taxable value.
County Auditor Corinna Spear presented a set of numbered amendments to the proposed budget during a statutorily required public hearing, including a step‑level hire for a GIS specialist, adjustments tied to an increase in maximum judge supplements, a rent increase for pretrial services, and the allocation of ARPA interest earned. Spear said those reallocations left the county general fund total unchanged at $53,838,754.
Judge: A record motion to adopt the proposed 2026 budget with the auditor’s changes was made by Commissioner Chapman and seconded by Commissioner McCall. After discussion — including commissioners’ support for future review of salary scales and concerns about making ad hoc raises — the motion carried 4–1 with the County Judge recorded as opposed.
Tax rate: As part of the same session the court held a public hearing on the proposed 2025 county tax rate. Tax administrator James Hudson explained the rate represents a reduction from 0.382 to 0.377 per $100 of taxable value. The court took separate recorded roll‑call votes to set 0.317976 for maintenance and operations and 0.059024 for debt service; both votes passed 5–0.
What changed and why it matters: The auditor said the net general fund remained the same after the proposed changes because some items were funded by reallocating contingency or other line items rather than increasing the total. Commissioners highlighted that the budget strengthens road and bridge crews and firefighting support and that changes in appraised values and new construction can raise total tax collections even when the rate is lowered.
Personnel and ARPA: Public speakers and some commissioners pressed for pay adjustments tied to recent flood response work. County staff noted a one‑time payment had been issued for flood service in one case and that salary scale changes can be considered in future budget amendments. Auditor Spear reported roughly $530,198.54 of interest had been earned on the county’s ARPA allocation through July 2025 and that about $86,000 in interest remained unallocated for possible use in FY2026.
Next steps: The adopted budget is filed as the county’s fiscal plan for FY2026; the county also approved early‑payment discount rates for property taxes (3% October, 2% November, 1% December) and set elected officials’ salaries consistent with the adopted scales.
