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Winnebago County officials report about $210 million in investments, outline 2027 budget process
Summary
At an April 2 Personnel Finance Committee meeting, Director Paul Kaiser and Miss Rausch reviewed recent general-fund performance and investment holdings and outlined the 2027 budget kickoff and priority-based budgeting peer-review schedule.
Chair Lawrence Cox convened the Winnebago County Personnel Finance Committee on April 2, where Director Paul Kaiser reviewed a four-year snapshot of the county general fund and investment portfolio and staff briefed the committee on preparations for the 2027 budget.
"Right now, in total, we have $210,000,000 with about $65,000,000 sitting in money market," Director Paul Kaiser told the committee, describing a portfolio that includes holdings in U.S. treasuries and municipal and corporate bonds. He said roughly $62,000,000 is held in U.S. treasuries and that about $125,000,000 of the portfolio is invested in municipal and corporate securities.
Kaiser also told the committee the county has roughly $9.3 million currently held in U.S. Bank tied to long-term care that is awaiting release, and that some externally managed portions of the portfolio have been under review. "I'm looking at potentially taking the [externally managed] investments in-house," he said, noting staff are evaluating fees and operational tradeoffs.
Miss Rausch (introduced earlier in the meeting) reviewed the county's budget schedule and the priority-based budgeting process adopted under the county's strategic plan. Rausch said departments and peer-review teams have completed scoring, and the next steps will compare department scores to peer-review results so staff can present prioritized recommendations at budget kickoff.
"At this point in time, period 13, we expect a 100% or close to that to be utilized," Rausch said, later summarizing the snapshot by reporting that about "93% of the budget was used" in the current unaudited figures. She told the committee the county is working with its software vendor to produce run-ready reports for monthly or quarterly review and that auditors will arrive in the coming weeks to complete formal audit adjustments.
Committee members asked whether the priority-based scoring differentiates mandated services. Rausch said mandating is a scored attribute that distinguishes federal, state and local mandates and will be included in the analysis so the county can show how much of the budget is tied to required versus discretionary activities.
Why it matters: The session provided the committee with the county's cash and investment picture heading into the 2027 budget cycle and described how staff plan to present more timely, comparative data to elected officials as they prioritize programs and spending.
Next steps: Staff will continue peer reviews and finalize budget kickoff materials; unaudited period-13 figures will be reconciled when auditors complete their review.
