The Will County Board approved a balanced $832 million Fiscal Year 2025 budget Thursday, including about $273 million in the corporate fund used for county operations and about $558 million in special revenue funds which are restricted in their use.
The budget includes $8.5 million in capital projects, with the largest allocation of $3.5 million to renovate a vacant Joliet medical building, 1300 Copperfield Ave., into a veterans campus and support center for the Veterans Assistance Commission, county officials said.
Plans include retrofitting the former medical center’s 72,000 square feet to meet the needs of the commission and other veteran organizations. The renovation is expected to be completed in 2026.
Jim Richmond, chair of the County Board’s finance committee, said the budget also contains $400,000 to help the Will County sheriff’s office replace older vehicles, $300,000 to complete a countywide aquifer study and $235,000 for new kitchen equipment for the adult detention facility.
The board included $569,000 in its budget to purchase beds and furniture for the Sunny Hill Nursing Home, 156-bed nursing care facility managed by the county, said Richmond, a Mokena Republican. New furniture was needed since the previous furniture was last replaced 17 years ago, he said. More modern, automatic beds will be safer for the residents, reduce the risk of suffocation and will benefit the nursing staff as well, he said.
The budget includes $300,000 for property and park improvements at the site of the former Will County courthouse, which was recently demolished in downtown Joliet. The board earlier this year designated the area as a park. Potential improvements, such as fencing, lights or landscaping, will be discussed by the County Board’s ad hoc courthouse committee, Richmond said.
The budget also included money for upgraded Wi-Fi in several county facilities, Richmond said.
“I think we proposed a solid budget,” Richmond said. “No jobs were cut. No services were cut.”
The county is in a sound financial position, Richmond said.
“I think this budget process went very smooth this year,” he said.
County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant praised the board for the budget. She said she understands it is a difficult process balancing the taxpayer responsibilities while helping the organizations that are looking to the county government for assistance.
“I do appreciate that we were able to get this budget out in a bipartisan fashion,” Bertino-Tarrant said.
The budget passed by an 18-2 vote, with Republicans Steve Balich of Homer Glen and Katie Deane-Schlottman of Joliet dissenting.
Balich said he is opposed to any budget or tax increases and felt the county should do more to tighten its belt.
“The people that live here are suffering from inflation,” Balich said. “If anything we should be cutting our budgets and cutting our levies because people at home have to cut their budgets.”
County Board Chair Judy Ogalla, a Republican from Monee, said she was frustrated with confusion on who was in charge of allocating the opioid settlement funds and wanted to ensure the Heroin Epidemic Relief Organization and Family Guidance Centers received funds they requested to help those dealing with addiction.
During public comment, representatives from both organizations requested funding that they would use to help treat individuals with dignity and respect and get more Narcan, which is used to reverse overdoses, into the community.
Board member Janet Diaz, a Joliet Democrat, said she was proud of the work Heroin Epidemic Relief Organization and Family Guidance Centers does.
“I’m glad we are going to help them,” Diaz said.
Public safety and judicial operations make up 64% of the operating budget, said Mike Theodore, spokesman for the county executive’s office.
The budget includes funding for 19 new positions, including 13 court security officers in the sheriff’s office, allowing deputies serving as courthouse security to transition to patrol and response roles, Theodore said.
Another $1.9 million in revenue from the state’s cannabis sales tax will help several public safety and social services programs, including the Children’s Advocacy Center, the housing stabilization program, the workforce services re-entry program, problem solving courts and the early childhood child care provider grant program, Theodore said.
About $1.2 million in funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be used to redesign the county website to consolidate all the different departments, Theodore said. The project will reduce the number of independent county website and make it more user-friendly and transparent for residents seeking government services, he said.
The county’s budget is unique from other counties in that in includes separate boards, such as the 911 Emergency Telephone System Board, the Will County Health Department, Laraway Consolidated Communications, the Veterans Assistance Commission and the Community Mental Health Board, which totals about $80 million.
The county’s fiscal year begins Dec. 1.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter.
