Will County Board Approved and Passed Balanced Budget

This week, it was announced that the Will County Board approved and passed a balanced budget of $624 million for the upcoming fiscal year. The balanced budget contains no new taxes and continues to provide important services for taxpayers. This is the fifth consecutive year that the board has lowered the tax rate. The 2019 tax rate of 0.5795 percent will be lower than the 2018 tax rate, which was 0.5927 percent.

“I’m proud of the hard work that everyone at the county has done to put this budget together,” said County Board Member and Finance Chair Kenneth Harris (D-Bolingbrook). “Our budget for fiscal year 2020 meets all of our debt obligations, includes a five-year road and capital plan, and includes $108 million in funding to complete the new courthouse and a new state of the art Health Department.”

This year’s budget was produced in large part due to great bipartisan work, according to Will County Board Speaker Denise Winfrey (D-Joliet).

“We continue to provide vital services to our residents while planning for the future growth of Will County,” said Winfrey. “I’m grateful to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for thoroughly debating this budget and being sensitive to the needs of the county while always putting the taxpayer first.”

However, there are also some, such as Minority leader Mike Fricilone (R-Homer Glen), who feels the tax rate could have been lowered even more than it was.

“Will County had the opportunity to lower the burden on our taxpayers and still provide the highest level of services,” said Fricilone. “We owe it to our constituents to keep their taxes as low as possible and I think there were areas in the budget where we could have tightened our belt a little more.”

Will County has maintained an AA+ bond rating and continues to be recognized by rating agencies such as Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. The county has sustained a stable financial performance, solid reserves and liquidity, as well as a diverse tax base.

Image via Shutterstock