County discusses managing budgeting uncertainty in 2026

The Cook County Board of Commissioners has already begun talking about the 2026 budget.

At their meeting on May 13, the board discussed moving forward on the budget, along with addressing several facilities concerns, and hiring a new administrator.

Changing the approach for the 2026 budget

In an interview with WTIP, Interim Administrator Rena Rogers said the county is approaching this budget planning cycle a little differently than in past years, because of the ongoing budget talks at the state and federal levels. “Certainly it is impacting us, because our funding comes, if not directly from the feds, it comes from the state, which is getting their funding from the feds,” she said. “I think it’s the uncertainty that really makes this a unique year.”

Rogers said that as news from state and federal organizations shifts regarding what funding sources will still be available to local governments, it has made planning complicated. Due to all of the unknowns, Rogers and Auditor Treasurer Braidy Powers have enlisted the help of the Budget and Facilities Advisory Committee to help shape the approach to budgeting for 2026.

They have also asked department heads to look closely at what vital services they offer residents, and how those services are funded. Rogers said one of the big questions for the county this year will be how to maintain the critical services, even funding for them is cut. She said this will require a lot of flexibility from county leadership. She said, “This uncertainty could flow right into next year when you’re actually managing that budget. I think it’ll be a useful exercise. And I think actually, if people kind of get used to it, I think it’s a great way to think about budgets in the future.”

While the county is attempting to consider what future changes might be coming, Rogers said this is also a time to look at organizations across the area, and look for potential partnerships which might help offset the uncertainty.

“If push comes to shove and somebody loses some funding, how do we use our connections with each other to make sure that people don’t fall through those cracks? We have to think like that,” Rogers said. “We thought like that during the pandemic, and we did a good job for this community. This is another one of those times.”

Capital Improvement Plan updates

As the county board starts planning for 2026, there are a number of ongoing project that will likely see some progress in the next few months. On May 22, the board along with architects BKV Group, will host an open house to allow the public to ask questions about the planned expansion of the Law Enforcement Center (LEC). Rogers said, after that open house, the next step will be for the board to officially decide on May 27 to move forward to put the project out for bids. The construction could begin as early as July.

While the LEC may be getting a major expansion and renovation, the courthouse will see some smaller changes this summer as part of the CIP. To address some of the space issues identified by the CIP, a section of the courthouse basement will be reworked to create office space. Rogers said the permits for the work have been approved, which will allow work to start on the basement during the week of May 18. She said the anticipated move-in day for staff will be at the beginning of July.

Administrator hiring update

Cook County has been without a permanent administrator since October of 2024, and the board conducted one round of recruitment and interviews under previous Interim Administrator Rowan Watkins. When the board opted not to hire one of the finalists after ther interviews, Watkins returned to his permanent role as head of the Management Information Systems department. Rogers then stepped in as interim administrator, a role she has previously filled, until a new administrator is hired.

At the May 13 meeting, DDA, the human resources firm the county is contracting with to recruit an administrator, shared with the board that the application window has closed for this second round of hiring. They received 25 applications, and 10 of those candidates have been selected to provide additional application material and complete a video interview. Based on their review of that additional material, the board will select the candidates they would like to invite to an in-person interview. The in-person interviews are scheduled for June 16.

When they opted not to hire after the first round of recruitment, some members of the board speculated that, if they posted the job again, they might get a different pool of applicants, some who were part of the sweeping firings and incentivized resignations at the federal level. Rogers confirmed that amongst the applicants this time around, there are some with federal experience, including from the State Department, USA AID, and the Department of Education.

Rogers added, however, that she expects those people to be potentially applying for many roles, not exclusively the position in Cook County. She said, “It remains to be seen if they really know where we are. But certainly we have some very qualified people that are moving forward in this conversation.”

WTIP’s Kirsten Wisniewski spoke with interim administrator Rena Rogers following the May 13 county board meeting. Audio of that interview is below.

Kirsten Wisniewski May 17, 2025