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DuPage Community Services seeks modest net increase for 2027, proposes moving four ARPA-funded positions to general fund
Summary
Mary Keating presented Community Services' 2027 budget request, describing a $2,000,000 ERA/ARPA-derived fund balance, a $499,000 transfer to absorb three 211 positions and one communications specialist into the general fund, and said the net increase versus projected 2026 spending is about 5%.
Mary Keating, presenting the Community Services 2027 budget request, told the Human Services Committee the department manages two general-fund budgets, a special-revenue fund and 31 grant budgets that together support salaries and programs.
Keating said the county previously received $50,000,000 in emergency rent assistance and reported a roughly $2,000,000 fund balance generated by interest on those ERA investments. She proposed moving three 211 positions and a community communication specialist into the general-fund headcount, recording a $499,000 transfer from the ERA/ARPA fund balance as revenue while also moving those expenses into the general fund.
Keating said the headline "12%" increase seen in the requested 2027 budget largely reflects a rebaseline — last year's approved 2026 budget used older figures — and that the more meaningful comparison (2026 projected vs. 2027 request) shows about a 5% increase driven primarily by reduced grant offsets and modest contractual increases, including a 5% rise in the PACE transit contract.
Committee members asked procedural and timing questions about grant dates and the runway for the ERA/ARPA funds; Keating explained the amounts include components from both ERA and other federal sources and that some positions (three case managers funded by grants) will remain grant-funded. She said the county is monitoring sustainability and would seek other funding sources if the fund balance declines.
Quotations used with permission included Keating's summary of federal funds: "We received a total of $50,000,000 in emergency rent assistance" and of the fund balance: "we have a $2,000,000 fund balance, from the interest that we earned from the emergency rent assistance program." The committee requested a slide comparison of the 2025/2026 approved budgets versus the 2027 request for clearer baseline context.
Next steps: the presentation will inform upcoming budget reviews; staff said they will supply the requested columnar comparison and continue monitoring ARPA/ERA fund balances.
