Will County Committee Advances $75,000 for U of I Extension

Will County Board Finance Committee Meeting | June 2, 2026

Article Summary: The Will County Board Finance Committee on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, voted to advance a resolution committing $75,000 to the University of Illinois Extension’s Will County operations, continuing the county’s long-running support for the educational and youth-development organization.

U of I Extension Funding Key Points:

• The resolution commits $75,000 — $50,000 from a landfill host fee and $25,000 from subgrant awards.
• Two Extension educators presented; the unit’s county director was unavailable.
• Members said the funding matches prior years’ support, and one trustee said she wished the county could give more.
• The motion passed on a voice vote and now moves to the full County Board.

WILL COUNTY — The Will County Board Finance Committee on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, voted to advance a resolution committing $75,000 to support University of Illinois Extension programming in Will County, an allocation that members described as consistent with past years’ funding.

According to the resolution, the $75,000 would be drawn from two sources: $50,000 from the Landfill Host Fee account, funded through the county’s Laraway Road Host Fee Agreement with Waste Management, and $25,000 from a subgrant awards and obligations line. The resolution ties the funding to countywide educational services in agriculture, community resource development, 4-H and youth programming, home economics and horticulture.

Two Extension staff members presented in place of the unit’s county director, who was unavailable. A horticulture educator and a 4-H youth development educator answered questions from the committee about the organization’s work and the value of the county’s contribution. (The educators’ names could not be verified from the supporting documents and are flagged below.)

Committee member Jacqueline Traynere offered immediate support, saying she has been on the board long enough to understand the program’s value and that she wished the county could provide more. Member Julie Berkowicz asked whether the request matched the prior year’s award; the presenters confirmed the request was for the same amount as in past years and said the dollars are stretched substantially through volunteer labor, describing a return of roughly nine times each dollar contributed.

Background materials submitted with the request detail the scope of the Will County operation. Extension reported reaching more than 11,100 county participants in 2025-26, answering more than 2,000 gardening and horticulture questions, and — across its three-county territory of Grundy, Kankakee and Will — counting more than $353,772 in volunteer service value. The materials also note that recent federal funding changes ended the statewide SNAP-Ed nutrition program, which had supported two federally funded positions housed in Will County, prompting Extension to shift to a Health and Community Wellness educator-and-advisor model. The organization stated that locally raised funds, including county allocations, are eligible for a 75% state match under the County Cooperative Extension Law.

The motion to advance the resolution was made by member Denise Winfrey and seconded by Traynere, and carried on a voice vote. As a committee recommendation, the commitment now moves to the full Will County Board.