DuPage County will begin its new fiscal year with a balanced spending plan that includes funding to address food insecurity and housing affordability while supporting mental health initiatives and community services.

The county board adopted the $661.5 million budget earlier this week. DuPage’s 2026 fiscal year starts on Monday.

The budget also includes additional funding for public safety to help address needs in the sheriff’s, state’s attorney and public defender offices.

“As you’ve heard me say many times, we can be fiscally responsible and take care of people. This spending plan reflects our values,” DuPage County Board Chair Deb Conroy said Tuesday.

In October, the county recorder, clerk and coroner requested additional money to fund their offices in the upcoming year. County board members did not fund the bulk of those requests, but did include money for one additional deputy coroner.

“It’s very disappointing,” County Recorder Liz Chaplin said Wednesday. Her request included moving the salaries of several employees from a budget line funded by fees collected by the recorder’s office into the county’s general fund. “But, we’re going to make it work.”

In a written statement, County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek claimed the county is threatening the 2026 elections by not funding her requests. For example, Chief Deputy Clerk Adam Johnson said one of the requests was for $700,000 for postage. The county budgeted $300,000.

“You can’t run vote-by-mail without postage,” he said in an email.

County officials have noted that the clerk’s office did not submit a budget in the requested format. As a result, the county’s finance department had to create a budget for the clerk’s office using historical spending data from similar election years.

Other highlights of the budget include the creation of an $18.1 million “DuPage Sustainability Initiative.” It’s intended to buttress the county’s social service infrastructure in three areas: food insecurity, affordable housing and “community sustainability.”

The budget also sets aside $9 million for stormwater management efforts, including improvements at the Elmhurst Quarry Flood Control Facility.

The budget allocates $1 million for transportation initiatives in the Hinsdale Lake Terrace neighborhood near Willowbrook, including the continuation of an “enormously successful” rideshare program, Conroy said during her budget address in September. It will also support the installation of sidewalks and streetlights.

The budget relies on a $71.5 million property tax levy.

The county’s tax rate remains flat at about 2% of an average homeowner’s overall tax bill. The owner of a home with a $350,000 market value will pay about $129 in property taxes to the county.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251127/news/dupage-county-passes-new-budget-with-18-million-for-sustainability-initiative/