November 14, 2024
Lake County Board Adopts $659 Million Budget
The Lake County Board approved a $659 million Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Budget at its meeting on November 12. The operating funds, which support most government services, are balanced at $386.2 million.
The budget funds Lake County's services, including transportation and infrastructure, health services, courts and public safety. This year’s budget themes - Excellence, Innovation and Sustainability - align with the County Board’s Vision. The budget includes several new initiatives that advance Lake County’s six strategic priorities. The budget allocates resources to open Lake County’s newest building, the Regional Operations and Communications (ROC) facility, in 2025.
It also incorporates salary adjustments from a compensation study aimed at enhancing recruitment efforts and supporting employee retention.
“This unanimously approved budget reflects Lake County’s commitment to delivering vital services to our residents,” said Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart. “It ensures we can meet essential needs in public safety, housing, health, infrastructure and more while also supporting the dedicated employees who make these services possible every day.”
After discussions during October’s public budget meetings, the County Board approved a property tax levy increase of just over two percent to ensure funding for critical infrastructure and new programming. This is well below the maximum increase allowed, which is 3.4 percent.
"Our budget makes significant investments in our people, clean energy infrastructure, public safety and human services and once again demonstrates our commitment to transparency and budgeting excellence,” said Finance and Administrative Committee Chair Paul Frank. "I thank our department leaders, County Administrator Sutton, CFO Gallagher, the Finance Committee members and all the County Board Members for their work and contributions to this year's budget."
While individual tax bills will vary based on property assessments and other local government levies, the Lake County portion of the average homeowner’s tax bill is expected to increase by only a few dollars.
Lake County received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for its FY2024 Budget, recognizing its commitment to high standards in governmental budgeting.
“We are honored by this recognition, which underscores our dedication to transparent and effective budget management,” said Melissa Gallagher, Chief Financial Officer. “We are committed to upholding these standards with our FY2025 Budget as well.”
The FY2025 Budget is available for viewing at lakecountyil.gov/Budget.
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