5 County Association of Governments briefs Kane County on services, warns of funding cuts to local administrative advisor program

Roger Carter, local administrative adviser with the 5 County Association of Governments, and director Darren Bushman briefed the Kane County Commission on Nov. 18 about services the interlocal agency provides to small towns.

Carter described the Local Administrative Advisor (LAA) program, funded by a state appropriation to help towns under 10,000 that lack full-time administrators. He said the program is voluntary for towns and "does not cost the communities at least directly," and that it offers planning, grant administration and administrative templates to reduce the workload of part-time clerks and volunteer officials.

Bushman said the association also administers aging services (Meals on Wheels and senior centers), regional planning and transportation planning, community support services including weatherization programs, and serves as the Economic Development Administration hub for federal infrastructure grants. He asked the commission to support restoration of recently reduced state funding for the LAA program and said the association is consolidating facilities and cutting overhead to stabilize finances.

Why it matters: Small towns in the five-county region rely on shared administrative expertise and grant management that the association provides; reduced state funding could limit those supports and raise costs or capacity gaps for local governments.

What’s next: The presenters requested any lobbying assistance and suggested the county share information via the 5 County and Kane County Facebook pages. The commission thanked the presenters and moved on to agenda business.