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Skokie health department proposes FY27 budget that preserves services while shifting grant funding
Summary
Health & Human Services Director Mike Charlie presented a FY27 budget that preserves core services across five divisions, projects about $791,437 in grant and fee revenue, and shifts spending as some time-limited grants expire while funding targeted investments like a youth outreach coordinator and water-sampling engineering work.
Mike Charlie, director of the Village of Skokie Health & Human Services Department, presented the department’s proposed FY27 budget, saying it preserves core services while responding to grant funding changes. He told the board the department anticipates generating about $791,437 in combined grant and fee revenue and that grant funding is projected to decline from previous years.
The budget keeps funding across five divisions—administration, environmental health, community health, human services and grant-funded programs—while making modest personnel adjustments and several targeted investments. Charlie said administration will see a modest salary-driven increase of $4,569 and community health will see $9,986 in required salary adjustments. He described the environmental health division as showing a net decrease (driven largely by reduced contracted rodent-control and contracted food inspections) but noted investments including a seasonal environmental health intern ($8,844) and $65,000 to hire an outside engineering firm to carry out a community water sampling program.
Charlie highlighted operational results the department attributes to expanded rodent-control efforts: “we've actually seen a decrease of about 31% in regards to the number of cases that we've received,” he said, describing a mix of contracted weekly baiting, targeted alley enforcement and public education. He also said staff have increased case-review cadence and are issuing citations (about 77 cited properties so far) in high-density areas, and that outreach materials and door‑hanger campaigns have been expanded.
On human services, Charlie described a modest increase (about $12,966) largely driven by salary adjustments and the expansion of a youth-outreach coordinator position to support a newly created youth commission. He reiterated that demand for social and behavioral health services remains steady and that the department assisted roughly 1,900 residents this fiscal year—consistent with recent years.
Trustees asked about a projected drop (about half) in the number of individuals assisted with emergency financial assistance shown in the budget book (page 189). Charlie said that the count is budget-dependent—how many persons are helped depends on earmarked funds, reserves and donations—and that newly approved housing-fund allocations and donor activity will influence the number of residents the village can assist next year.
The department also fielded questions about statewide mental-health triage and the role of the 988 system. Charlie said Illinois is still working through logistics for routing calls and that local police and the village’s co-responder work are participating in state meetings to prepare for the eventual handoff of responsibilities.
The presentation closed with trustees and staff agreeing to return with a more detailed summer report summarizing rat-control outcomes and public-education plans, and to continue outreach about the tuition-support program run in partnership with Oakton College (roughly $15,000 in remaining funds to support several seats in short‑term certificate programs).
