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Kane County committee told to plan 5% cut for 2027; officials flag vendor and utility cost pressures
Summary
Kane County staff were directed to prepare the 2027 budget with a 5% reduction from 2026 levels; IT and building management face roughly $741,000 in reductions combined, and officials warned vendor and municipal utility increases will complicate cuts.
Chair Chris Caius opened the April 15 Kane County Administration Committee meeting and staff delivered budget guidance for the 2027 fiscal year.
Roger Fonstock, who presented the executive director’s report for IT and Building Management, said county finance asked departments to prepare a 5% reduction from the 2026 budget. Fonstock said the combined reduction for IT, building management and county-wide funds is about $741,000 — roughly $245,000 for IT, $362,000 for building management and $124,000 in county-wide allocations — while general-fund departments overseen by the county board face roughly $1,024,000 in reductions.
Fonstock cautioned that vendor inflation will complicate those cuts. He said Tyler Technologies has notified the county of a projected 5% increase that would amount to about $111,000 for three countywide products, and that Microsoft renewals also are expected to rise. He also flagged municipal utility increases, telling the committee that one municipal provider plans staged water and wastewater increases of 17% initially and as much as 50% over the next three to four years — a change that could add roughly $100,000 a year for high-consumption facilities such as the jail.
"We're looking at positions first, which is the largest portion of our budget, and then contractual and commodities," Fonstock said. He outlined a timeline: staff expect position budgets entered by the month-end schedule and a committee presentation May 13 to allow review and any suggested changes before finance-committee consideration.
Committee members asked clarifying questions about which utilities and contracts would be affected, and discussed mitigation tactics Fonstock proposed, including additional energy-efficiency projects and operational controls such as night setbacks or modest thermostat adjustments. Fonstock emphasized that dedicated sales-tax revenues fund most public-safety and judiciary software costs, which reduces the burden on the general fund but does not eliminate the challenge.
The committee did not take formal budget votes at the meeting; Fonstock said staff will return with the detailed entries and a committee presentation in May, and that finance expects budget entries to be turned in by the end of the month.
