AIM4WILL FY26 Will County 0% Levy Analysis - PART I
How a 0% Levy Became a $2.8M Crisis in Will County
Or: How to Eat a Whole Turkey Without a Problem… Then Choke on a Grape 🦃🍇
Let’s start with the obvious:
Government is supposed to be boring.
Not dramatic.
Not theatrical.
Not “shutdown-threat-on-the-news” exciting.
Boring is good.
Boring means the system is working.
What just happened in Will County was not boring.
It was chaotic. And it didn’t need to be.
So let’s break this down in plain English.
1️⃣ This Didn’t Start at 0%. It Started at 2%.
The original FY26 budget wasn’t built for a flat year.
It was built on:
👉 A 2% levy increase.
Departments planned for it.
Programs expanded for it.
Spending grew for it.
Later, committees were shown a 1.75% version — the “we’re totally cutting back, promise” version.
Still higher taxes.
Still higher spending.
Still not zero.
So if you’re wondering how we ended up in a mess…
This is the first breadcrumb.
2️⃣ Then the Board Slammed the Brakes — Twice 🚦
🗓 October 16
The County Board passed a resolution saying:
✅ 0% levy. No increase.
Not the final vote yet — but a very loud signal.
Translation in regular-person language:
“We’re not raising taxes this year.”
🗓 November (Final Vote)
Then the Board made it official:
✅ Final levy = 0% (plus new construction)
Two votes.
Same outcome.
No ambiguity.
At this point, the next step should have been completely boring:
➡️ Update the budget
➡️ Match spending to revenue
➡️ Let committees review
➡️ Vote
➡️ Go home
That’s how functional government works.
That is not what happened.
3️⃣ The Budget That Never Showed Up 👻
Here’s the simplest way to explain the actual problem:
The Board said “We’re not bringing in more money.”
But the budget still assumed they were.
And here’s the key:
✅ The Board controls how much money can be collected
✅ The Executive controls how that money is spent
When revenue changes, the budget is supposed to change with it.
That’s not politics.
That’s math.
But despite the Board voting 0% twice:
👉 No updated 0% budget ever appeared.
Not for committees.
Not for the full Board.
Not for the public.
So everyone was stuck reviewing a 1.75% budget in a 0% world.
That’s like canceling your vacation…
but still packing sunscreen. 🧴
Hope is powerful. But math always wins.
📘 A Quick Reality Check: What the County Code Actually Says (Plain English)
Here’s the part that keeps getting blurred — so let’s say it clearly.
Under the Illinois Counties Code:
✅ The Levy = How Much Money the County Is Allowed to Collect
That’s the Board’s job.
They vote on the revenue ceiling
That decision is final
It is not a suggestion
Think of it like your household income:
“This is all the money we are allowed to live on.”
✅ Appropriations = The Budget (The Spending Plan)
This is the critical part many people miss:
Appropriations ARE the budget
The County Executive prepares them
The Executive’s departments are full-time
The Board is part-time
The Board approves what the Executive prepares
In normal life:
The Board sets the guardrails
The Executive builds the engine
The Board decides whether to turn the key
✅ The Rule That Actually Matters
Appropriations (budgets) are legally required to fit inside the levy.
You cannot:
❌ Approve a budget that assumes more money than the levy allows
❌ Leave a mismatch in place and “figure it out later”
❌ Treat the levy like a rough draft
That’s not how public finance law works.
That’s how overdraft fees work.
✅ Why This Structure Exists
Will County uses an Executive form of government specifically because:
The Executive runs full-time departments
The Finance Department reports to the Executive
The Executive is supposed to adjust the budget when policy changes
The Board is not designed to be a day-to-day budget repair shop
Which brings us back to the core problem:
👉 The 0% budget never appeared.
And instead of new numbers…
We got this.
4️⃣ Instead of a Budget… We Got a Shutdown Memo 🎭
The shutdown memo came AFTER the October 16 vote, not after the November final vote.
So the real sequence was:
✅ Board signals 0%
❌ No new budget appears
📄 Shutdown memo appears instead
Instead of:
✔️ “Here’s the revised 0% budget.”
The public got:
“We might have to shut down the county.”
That’s not budgeting.
That’s pressure.
The numbers were missing.
But the fear showed up right on time.
5️⃣ Then Came the Thanksgiving Podcast Moment 🦃🎙️
On November 26, the County Executive recorded an appearance on the
815 Has Problems podcast.
It aired on November 28, right before Thanksgiving.
At that moment:
The Board had passed 0% twice
There was still no revised 0% budget
A special meeting was clearly coming
The public narrative was forming
And on that episode, the Executive said:
“It’s not my job to make cuts.”
First — AIM wants to say this clearly:
👉 We genuinely appreciate 815 Has Problems for bringing the County Executive on.
That episode preserved a critical public record moment. That’s how real accountability begins.
Now… about that statement.
The entire reason Will County even has a County Executive is so that:
✅ The Board sets direction
✅ The Executive runs operations
✅ The Executive updates the budget
✅ The Executive performs the adjustments after policy changes
So when the public hears:
“It’s not my job to make cuts,”
Right before:
a holiday,
a special meeting,
and peak public confusion…
…it flips responsibility away from the only office actually built to perform the adjustment.
6️⃣ The “Functional Workaround” 🧯
(Translation: We’re fixing this late.)
Because no revised 0% budget ever appeared, a new idea emerged:
➡️ Use reserves to plug the $2.8M gap
Is it workable for one year? Probably.
Is it how the system is supposed to operate?
No.
This is a workaround, not a working process.
Workarounds save emergencies.
Processes prevent them.
7️⃣ The $624M → $815M Reality Check 📊
(This Is Where the Drama Really Breaks Down)
A few years ago, the Will County budget was about:
💰 $624 million
Today it’s about:
💰 $815 million
That’s roughly:
📈 $200 million in growth in four years
No shutdown threats.
No emergency rhetoric.
No panic.
But now?
⚠️ A $2.8M adjustment
Inside an $800M+ budget
Is suddenly portrayed as catastrophic?
That’s like eating an entire Thanksgiving turkey without blinking…
and then choking on a single grape. 🦃🍇
Perspective matters.
🔥 What’s Coming in Part 2…
So far, this story has been about:
Numbers
Timing
Messaging
And a missing budget
But in Part 2, the story shifts.
Because on November 20, during the actual budget meeting,
something happened on camera…
And later, a Democrat Board Member documented exactly when and how it happened in a formal memo.
That’s where this stops being a budgeting story…
…and becomes a governance and transparency story.
✅ THANK YOU & SOURCES — PART 1
✅ Thank You
AIM thanks the 815 Has Problems podcast and its hosts for creating a public forum that captured critical statements at a pivotal moment.
Public accountability only exists when public conversation exists.
📚 Sources & Public Record
Will County Board – Oct. 16 Estimate of Annual Aggregate Levy Resolution (0%)
Will County Board – November Final Levy Ordinance (0% + New Construction)
FY26 Draft Budget (2% assumption; 1.75% committee scenario)
Shutdown memo issued following Oct. 16 vote
815 Has Problems podcast – Recorded Nov. 26, released Nov. 28
Illinois Counties Code (55 ILCS 5)
Will County special meeting scheduling following podcast release
Memo from Democrat Board Member Destinee Ortiz documenting the November 20 meeting exchange and procedural intervention