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Kane County transportation officials preview $136.85 million budget, shift some work in-house
Summary
Division of Transportation staff told the committee the proposed 2027 transportation budget totals $136.85 million, with roughly $73 million in capital projects and program-driven staffing changes including moving striping and some crack sealing in-house to save money.
Tom Rickert, director of the Kane County Division of Transportation, told the Transportation Committee on May 19 that the division's proposed budget for the coming year totals $136,850,000 and is driven by capital projects entered through the county's TIP and existing obligations.
"Our budgets can flex pretty significantly $10'$20,000,000 from year to year based upon what projects are in the program," Rickert said, adding that about $54,000,000 in new revenues are expected and roughly $82,000,000 is budgeted for nonrecurring capital projects. He told members that 85% of the budget is project spending and about 15% supports operations such as personnel and maintenance.
The presentation emphasized personnel and program budgeting: the division currently lists 79 positions (71 full-time and eight part-time seasonal), with several maintenance positions and mechanics funded from different revenue sources. Rickert said some positions were moved into the RTA sales-tax fund and the local option motor fuel tax to address cash-flow constraints in the county highway fund.
Committee members questioned staffing growth and environmental work. A member asked why full-time equivalents had increased over the last decade; Rickert said increases reflect more lane mileage, the move toward shift work for around-the-clock coverage and a desire to perform more activities in-house for long-term savings. "Putting 2 new employees onto paint striping actually saves us a half 1,000,000," he said.
On environmental practices, Rickert said the division follows federal NEPA requirements and noted the state frequently requires additional measures. "There are times where we would, I would say, go above and beyond," he said, while cautioning that some enhancements can add hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in cost.
The budget materials were entered into the county's system for the county board adoption process; Rickert said the packet contains worksheets with project-level details and purchase-order references to help committee members track multi-year project spending.
The committee did not take a final vote on the budget at this meeting; Rickert said the work is prepared for the county board adoption process.
