McHenry County puts an easy-to-read budget

Ever wanted to know how McHenry County is spending your money, but not badly enough to wade through 400 pages of line items in the county budget?

Help is on the way.

The county next month plans to launch the first edition of what officials hope will become their annual Budget in Brief (or BIB) a sharply condensed and easily read account of the county's financial picture.

"The idea is to have a quick synopsis of what we accomplished in the previous fiscal year and what next year's budget looks like," said Ralph Sarbaugh, associate county administrator for finance. "It's not meant to be heavy reading."

The BIB, Sarbaugh said, will detail county revenues, what portion of residents' property tax dollars goes to the county and how that money is spent. The document will not exceed 15 pages and will relay its information through graphs and factoids as well as text.

Officials said they hope to have the document available to the public within the next two weeks at the front counter of the county administration building in Woodstock and on the county Web site, www.co.mchenry.il.us.

A draft version of the BIB won praise Tuesday when shared with members of the McHenry County Board's finance and audit review committee.

"This is something that is very user-friendly," committee member Tina Hill said. "I think it's great."