Consultant Error Forces Scramble; County Board Approves FY2026 Budget with Surplus

Montgomery County Board Meeting | Nov. 12, 2025

Article Summary: After discovering a significant vendor error that under-reported expenses by over $1 million during the drafting process, the Montgomery County Board approved a Fiscal Year 2026 budget that projects a surplus of approximately $212,000.

Montgomery County Budget Key Points:

• The Error: Budget consultant Bellwether LLC failed to include over $1 million in “General Administrative” expenses in initial drafts, causing a major discrepancy.

• The Fix: The Finance Committee bridged the resulting gap by increasing solar permit fee projections, transferring ARPA interest, and utilizing Coal Royalty funds.

• The Consequence: Bellwether waived their final $6,000 invoice and issued an apology; the final budget passed with a projected $212,472 general fund surplus.

• The Levies: The board approved various tax levies, including $949,636 for the General Corporate Fund and $901,292 for the Health Department.

HILLSBORO, Ill. – The Montgomery County Board on Tuesday, November 12, 2025, approved its Fiscal Year 2026 budget, concluding a tumultuous drafting process marred by a significant clerical error by an outside consultant.

Finance and Budget Committee Chairman Andy Ritchie detailed the situation to the full board. According to Ritchie and committee minutes, the board learned last month of a potential $900,000 General Fund deficit. The shortfall was traced back to a spreadsheet error by Bellwether LLC, the company hired to assist with the budget. Bellwether’s drafts failed to pick up $1,017,650.80 in “General Administrative” expenses, meaning expenses were significantly under-reported throughout the process.

“Since then, both the County Board Administration office staff and Treasurer Lohman have double and triple-checked Bellwether’s spreadsheets and found other errors,” Ritchie said.

Bellwether representative Justin Greeley attended the meeting, stating his company was “not happy” with the process this year and apologizing for the flaws. Consequently, Bellwether waived their final $6,000 invoice for services.

To correct the budget and achieve a surplus, the Finance Committee held special meetings in late October and early November. The solution involved several adjustments:

• Increasing projected revenue from Solar Permit Fees from $75,000 to $110,000.

• Transferring $322,692 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) interest to the General Fund.

• Moving $550,000 in contingencies from the Coal Fund to the General Fund.

• Decreasing professional services expenses.

The final approved budget anticipates a General Fund surplus of $212,472.28. Treasurer Nikki Lohman confirmed she received written approval from all county officeholders verifying the accuracy of their specific budget portions.

The board also adopted amendments to the budget to include a new Victim/Witness Advocate position in the State’s Attorney’s office, with a $45,000 expense line item offset by $20,000 in revenue.

Following the budget adoption, the board approved the annual tax levies, including $949,636 for the General Corporate Fund, $901,292 for the County Health Department, and $665,645 for the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF).