Kane County staff told the executive committee on Dec. 3 that the county received signed funding agreements from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development covering the 2025 program year’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME allocations, representing roughly $2,000,000 for affordable housing and community needs.

Mark Van Kirkhoff, who presented the item, said the county’s resolution endorses actions by the Kane County/City of Elgin HOME Consortium and reflects project recommendations from the consortium and the City of Elgin, with some funding drawn from the St. Charles Housing Trust Fund that the county administers. “We received our signed funding agreements from HUD for our 2025 program year for CDBG and HOME program, which represents about $2,000,000 to address community needs and affordable housing,” Van Kirkhoff said.

Committee members asked whether awards to for‑profit firms reflected a preference or were driven by qualifications. One commissioner asked why two of five awarded projects went to for‑profit firms and whether the county could favor nonprofits; Van Kirkhoff and staff responded that the HOME program has long allowed a mix of for‑profit and nonprofit applicants and that for‑profit developers such as Splane and Sons had longstanding experience rehabilitating distressed properties in several municipalities.

The staff attachment lists projects funded from Kane County’s HOME and CDBG allocations as well as partner funds from Elgin and St. Charles. Van Kirkhoff said the award list includes single‑family home purchases in Elgin and St. Charles; in 2025 the county funded four homes (two in Elgin, two in St. Charles) though applicants had requested six.

The committee approved the recommendation to move the resolution forward.

Next steps: staff will finalize award documents and proceed with contract execution and monitoring of project completion; Van Kirkhoff offered to provide later photos and project summaries to the committee.