With funds from the American Rescue Plan Act falling off Kankakee County’s budget for next year and a continuing decrease in bed rental fees at the Jerome Combs Detention Center, there was some serious belt-tightening by various departments to keep the county in the black for another year.

The Kankakee County Board unanimously approved a $49,459,235 Fiscal Year 2026 budget at Wednesday’s board meeting.

“I would like to thank Steve McCarty, our finance director, Craig Long, vice chairman, Anita [Speckman], our county administrator and Eric [Cavender], our program manager,” Board Chairman Matthew Alexander-Hildebrand said. “We all worked together. This was a harder budget than previous years because ARPA falling off, the decline in bed rentals. So it was a partnership among all elected officials, all department heads. We all came together. It was a huge team effort.”

The increase represents a 5% hike from FY25’s budget of $46,999,784, which ends Nov. 30. Alexander-Hildebrand added the county is estimated to end FY25 with a $150,000 surplus.

“We’re passing a balanced budget, which I think is even better news given all these variables this year,” he said. “We’re obviously going to continue to work next year into making sure the same thing happens.”

The bulk of the general fund revenue comes from a variety of taxes, which will account for $30.4 million of the budget. The top three of those will come from $9.5 million in property tax, $7.2 million in sales tax and $5.1 million in state income tax.

Cannabis sales tax is expected to bring in $326,184, which is an increase from FY25’s $319,788.

On the expense side, there’s a 10.6% increase in health insurance for the county which amounts to $411,334. Also included in the FY26 budget is $6 million for the courthouse renovation and $1.5 million for river equipment. Both of those projects are being funded by state grants.

“I want to make that clear because I think last year’s budget ended at $43 million, and this year’s at $49 million, so the number looks a little skewed,” Alexander-Hildebrand said.

“But if you know that those two are in there, it tapers that back,” he said.

The loss of bed rentals at the Jerome Combs Detention Center is because the U.S. Marshals are focusing more on detainees of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement rather than other prisoners.

The Illinois Way Forward Act took effect on Jan. 1, 2022. Signed by Gov J. Pritzker in August 2021, it terminated the ability of county jails to contract with the federal government for immigration detention.

Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey said the law has led to the county losing potentially $26 million over the past four years.

The county had a contract for housing 200 beds which generated $6.5 million annually. The county jail is estimated to collect $3.4 million less in revenue in FY25 than it was projected to receive.

The FY25 budget expected $9.85 million in fees, and it’s estimated to receive $6.4 million. The FY26 budget calls for $5.6 million in out-of-county rentals.

“All the federal agencies right now are working with ICE,” said Downey in the Criminal Justice committee meeting on Wednesday. “As you know, we cannot house for ICE, and there’s really not been a whole lot of arrests of people that we can house.”

Alexander-Hildebrand said the money derived from the bed rentals gave the county a surplus.

“That’s the big hit,” he said. “It helped fund us as a county. So now with no ARPA, no bed rentals, we’re happy that we’re able to pass a balanced budget.”

County Board member Steven Hunter, who represents part of Kankakee, said the department heads and administrative team should be applauded for their transparency.

“I’m just pleased with your teamwork, how you guys work together in a pragmatic fashion,” he said. “It should be noted to the 106,000 residents of the county that they’re in good hands with you guys being at the helm of the services for the county.”