Kane board rejects budget over questions

The Kane County Board rejected a proposed budget for the 2025 fiscal year Wednesday because some members said they had unanswered questions about it.

But the budget will be brought back for a vote during a special meeting next week.

“I am really struggling with the numbers presented,” board member Leslie Juby of Geneva said.

Juby said she has been asking questions about discrepancies at committee meetings for several months. Her questions included whether the amount of sales tax the county collects during the Christmas shopping season is being correctly reported. She also takes issue with basing the proposed budget on this year’s budget.

She and 13 other board members voted against the budget. Five voted in favor, and five were absent.

County board Chairman Corinne Pierog instructed board members to send their questions to the county’s finance director by the end of the day Tuesday. The director will then provide answers to all board members before the board’s next meeting.

Pierog said she will schedule a special meeting, likely next week, to reconsider the budget.

The finance director offered to answer questions Wednesday, but board members said they had too many, and some wanted the answers in writing.

The board has to pass a budget by Nov. 30. The new fiscal year starts Dec. 1.

The finance committee recommended a budget in August that would have transferred $6 million in RTA sales tax money from the transportation division to other uses to avoid continuing to rely on excess reserves to fill the gap between money expected to come in and spending.

But the board’s executive committee scuttled that idea.

The proposed budget calls for $416.7 million in spending. Roughly $58.7 million of the money would come from property taxes levied in 2025, and at least $29.3 million in reserves would be used.

The board was supposed to vote on the budget last week but had to suspend the meeting when too many members left in the middle of the meeting.