The Kane County Board voted 16-8 Tuesday night to place a quarter-cent sales tax referendum on the November 2026 ballot, a measure supporters say would generate roughly $34 million annually for road, bridge, and stormwater infrastructure across the county.
The vote followed nearly two hours of public comment at the Kane County Government Center in Geneva, where residents lined up on both sides of the issue. Proponents pointed to a 2024 county engineering study that identified $412 million in deferred maintenance on county-owned roads and bridges, while opponents argued the tax would burden small businesses already struggling with inflation.