‘Just a lot of uncertainty'; Federal funding orders leaving some Central IL cities concerned
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — It's never easy budgeting or planning for revenue changes. That challenge is increasingly apparent in Champaign and Urbana.
'New orders are coming through all the time, and so it's just a lot of uncertainty around will that grant funding still be available,' said Champaign Finance Director Kay Nees.
President Trump ordered a temporary funding freeze last week. The since-repealed memo is one of several federal orders that have started a snowball of potential changes to allotted dollars.
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'We're starting to see similar kinds of directives coming from different agencies,' said Elizabeth Hannan, Urbana human resources and finance director.
One of those orders came from the Department of Transportation. It lists out funding preferences and limitations based on birth rates, vaccine mandates and compliance with federal immigration enforcement.
'We're not quite sure where these federal orders are going to go, like how deep that impact will be,' Nees said.
Both Champaign and Urbana count on millions of dollars in federal funding. Champaign's budget for the last fiscal year had about $10.7 million in grant revenue. Urbana's budget for this year has about $7.4 million planned.
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'If we have to replace ongoing grant funding or if there are perhaps new services that we want to explore, then at this point it appears that we would need new revenue to do either one of those things,' Hannan said.
Hannan said Urbana has been brainstorming ways to compensate for a potential loss or change in federal grants. It's in an effort to mitigate the impact on local programs that support vulnerable populations.
'Our residents are going to probably suffer as a result of some of the things that are happening at the federal government,' Hannan said. 'At the same time, we need new revenues which also has an impact on our residents.'
She said some ways that Urbana could make up for a potential loss in funding include a tax on streaming services or increasing the city's food and beverage tax. Nees said it's still too early for Champaign to start having those discussions, but didn't write off the possibility of those happening in the coming weeks.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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