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Environmental division outlines FY2027 budget shift, plans wetland bank construction
Summary
Kane County environmental staff presented the FY2027 water resources budget, proposing to shift two-thirds of a sustainability manager's salary into the landfill fund and one-third into the electric aggregation fund, move $43,952 out of the general fund, and construct a wetland bank in 2027.
Jody Wallnick (presented to the Development Committee) reviewed the Environmental/Water Resources Division's proposed FY2027 budget, explaining a planned reallocation of salary and program expenses across special funds and the use of fee-in-lieu revenues to support wetland bank construction.
Wallnick said the division will move two-thirds of the sustainability manager's salary into the landfill fund (Fund 650) and the remaining third into the electric aggregation fund (Fund 0421), a shift that included $30,525 in salary and $13,004.27 in benefits for a total of $43,952 moved out of the general fund. Staff described that change as producing a 66.4% decrease in the general-fund line for that salary.
The presentation covered several dedicated funds: stormwater fees (Fund 403) collected via a fee-in-lieu mechanism for detention basins, wetland fee-in-lieu (Fund 0420) with plans to build a wetland bank in 2027, an electric aggregation fund (0421), the Settlers Hill landfill fund (6.50) held for contingency and hauling fees, and the riverboat fund (0405), which will absorb some expenses previously covered by ARPA as ARPA grants expire. Wallnick said the division has two vehicles approaching end-of-life for which larger maintenance expenses are likely as the vehicles age.
Why it matters: The reallocation transfers recurring personnel costs out of the general fund and into program-specific funds, changing how the division's operational costs are shown and funded. The wetland-bank construction proposal represents a planned on-the-ground investment in 2027 using dedicated funds.
Questions from committee members centered on the accounting shifts, vehicle replacement timing and whether wetland credits could be sold; staff said selling wetland credits would risk double-dipping if the county used fee-in-lieu dollars to both create and sell credits, but the county can partner with forest preserves to expand bank acreage and allow credits to be sold for the additional acreage created beyond the county-funded portion.
What happened next: The committee received the presentation and, later in the meeting, placed the reports on file by unanimous consent. No formal budget adoption or vote on the proposed FY2027 Environmental/Water Resources budget was recorded at this meeting.
Next steps: Staff offered to provide vehicle age/mileage details for future budgeting and said construction planning for a wetland bank would proceed as funding and project design allow.
