Peoria Standard

The Peoria County Board has approved a $174.2 million budget for fiscal year 2026, which will run from January 1 to December 31, 2026. The budget allocates $31.7 million for capital projects, including $3.5 million for pre-construction services aimed at upgrades to the Peoria County Jail and various road and bridge improvements.

The approved budget maintains the current property tax rate and uses strategic drawdowns from reserve savings to fund key initiatives. It also provides full funding for wages, benefits, and pensions of county employees.

“Passing a responsible budget is one of the most important duties of the County Board, and this year’s process included thoughtful discussion and meaningful compromise,” said James C. Dillon, Peoria County Board Chairperson. “Through the strategic use of reserves, we can invest in key capital projects at our facilities without a property tax rate increases to our residents. This budget supports our team members, strengthens our infrastructure, and positions Peoria County well for the years ahead.”

The proposed format of the budget is available online at https://www.peoriacounty.org/395/Budget-Information.

During Thursday's meeting, amendments were introduced that include appropriating up to $2 million in FY 2026 savings from 28 vacant positions into the FY 2027 budget. Another amendment reallocates $33,165 from the County Board departmental budget to the Capital Project Fund for implementation of the Jail Master Plan; these changes will be updated soon.

In related educational statistics within Peoria County schools during the 2022-23 academic year, there was an average student-to-teacher ratio of 15-to-1 among a total enrollment of 27,081 students taught by 1,844 full-time faculty members (https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Home.aspx). Teacher absenteeism in county schools was recorded at 32.3%, which is lower than Illinois' statewide average of 35.6% (https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Home.aspx). Dunlap High School had the highest enrollment of white students with 873 enrolled (https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Home.aspx), Richwoods High School led in multiracial student enrollment with 182 students (https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Home.aspx), Lincoln School reported having the highest number of Hispanic students at 218 (https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Home.aspx), while Peoria High School had the largest Black student enrollment with a total of 798 students (https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Home.aspx).