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County administrator urges zero‑based budgeting to curb "budget creep" and sharpen priorities
Summary
County Administrator Al Zwilling presented a Zero‑Based Budgeting recommendation, arguing ZBB forces departments to justify all expenditures, prevents automatic 'budget creep', and enhances transparency; he cited Illinois statutes that allow flexible budget methods.
County Administrator Al Zwilling presented a recommendation urging Mercer County to consider Zero‑Based Budgeting (ZBB) as part of its multi‑year fiscal strategy. Zwilling said ZBB "requires departments to justify all expenditures each budget cycle, rather than assuming continuation of prior spending levels," framing the approach as a tool to prioritize statutory and core services amid flat revenues and levy constraints.
Zwilling noted Illinois law permits counties to choose budgeting formats that meet statutory adoption and transparency requirements, citing 55 ILCS 5/6‑1001 and 55 ILCS 5/5‑1106 as the legal basis for flexible budgeting. He argued ZBB can reduce incremental increases that compound over time, improve board-level decision-making, and tie spending to outcomes rather than historical precedent. The committee recorded the recommendation in its materials; the transcript does not show a formal vote on adopting ZBB at this meeting.
