DuPage County Board approves FY2026 budget, tax levies and multiple appropriations including headcount change

The DuPage County Board advanced its FY2026 financial plan on Nov. 25, approving the annual appropriation ordinance, tax levies and numerous appropriations and purchase orders across departments.

Member Evan Garcia led the finance portion of the agenda, moving multiple items that passed by roll call or unanimous leave, including acceptance and appropriation of $148,128 from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and ARPA-funded agreements (for example, $342,090 to DuPage Pads for sheltering capacity). The board also approved a series of contract purchase orders for ongoing county operations, including multi-year supply and IT contracts (examples read into the record included ODP Business Solutions, Amazon Capital Services, CDW Government and others), with specific maximum contract amounts provided during the meeting.

During the ordinance amendment for the annual appropriation, Garcia read detailed line-item adjustments across several departments to fund IT projects (backup, cloud migration and hardware), building improvements for animal services, and vehicle replacements. The board approved an amendment to the FY2026 headcount to increase the coroner's staffing from 16 to 17, a change the board adopted by voice vote following a second and roll call.

Other fiscal actions approved included interfund transfers (noted amounts included authorizations up to $1,000,000 to the DuPage Sustainability Initiative Fund and up to $3,100,000 to the DuPage Care Center Fund), authorizations related to debt service and special service area levies, and an authorization for up to $500,000 transfer to the tort liability fund. The chair noted the budget preserves the county's strong financial position and keeps property-tax impacts for homeowners relatively flat while funding infrastructure and county services. Several items were pulled or amended during discussion and were approved as amended.