 Board members present were Kevin Bateman, Robert
"Bob" Farmer, David Hepler, Gloria Luster, Patrick O'Neill, Charles
"Chuck" Ruben, Jan Schumacher, John Stewart and Terry Werth. Absent
were Rick Aylesworth, Bill Martin and Terry Carlton.The finance
committee leads the budget process, starting in August with budget
hearings. Once figures are calculated against projected revenue and
expense trends and current balances, the committee approves separate
department budgets and levy amounts.
Last year, to make ends meet, department heads were handed 5
percent cuts to their requested budgets. This year the departments
were all asked to cut 13 percent.
Several committee chairmen and others spoke for departments where
the deeper cuts would cause place hardship on an official's work
time or create a public safety issue. The across-the-board cut would
have greater impact on smaller departments, such as the coroner's
office, and the board looked at the impact on public safety, as well
as other factors.
During its October adjourned session, the board approved a budget
for public display following unanimous approval of amendments that
added $4,000 back into the coroner's budget and $50,000 back into
the sheriff's budget.
This month the board approved additional amendments before the
final passing of the 2011 budget.
University of Illinois Cooperative Extension adviser John Fulton
requested reconsideration to restore $13,713 to the Extension's
levy. The office is funded in part by local funds that are provided
by levy of property taxes.
The Logan County levy system is under Illinois property tax
extension limits. Under these limits, the total of all levies from
one year to the next can have no more increase than either the
Consumer Price Index or less than a 5 percent increase, whichever is
the lesser amount.
At the November board-of-whole meeting, Fulton said the cut would
create an impact of over $24,500 because of state matching funds
involved.
He added that the Extension's levy request has always stayed
under the amount permitted.
He further explained that the Cooperative Extension has been
undergoing significant reorganization and the funds are needed.
Finance chair Chuck Ruben clarified that approval of the
Cooperative Extension levy request would still keep the total county
levies under the amount allowed by the property tax extension
limits.
However, Ruben then asked that board members think before the
vote. He raised the following question as a statement: "What do you
want me or the next finance chairman for next year to tell everybody
(getting a levy), from the health department on down? What do I tell
them when they come and want their levies back?"
The Cooperative Extension budget was set at $91,785. Gloria
Luster moved to add $13,750, to make a total of $105,500. The motion
passed 5-4, with Luster, O'Neill, Stewart, Werth and Hepler voting
in favor and Schumacher, Bateman, Farmer and Ruben voting against.
The 2011 fiscal year property tax
levies were approved with the following votes:
-
Cooperative
Extension, amended to $105,500
9-0
-
Senior citizens,
$69,600
8-0, with Ruben, Schumacher, Stewart, Werth, Bateman, Farmer,
Luster and O'Neill voting in favor
-
Tuberculosis
sanitarium, $48,189, which would have an accumulated $145,174 at
the end of this current year
9-0
-
Ambulance service,
$130,500
9-0
-
Highway matching
tax, $186,750
9-0
-
County bridge,
$168,210
9-0
-
County highway,
$355,830
9-0
-
Illinois Municipal
Retirement Fund, $812,500
9-0
-
Health department,
$339,640
9-0
-
Liability
insurance, $170,000
9-0
-
General fund, $978,609
9-0
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A peek back at the 2010 tax levies:
-
General fund,
$810,237
-
Liability insurance,
$170,000
-
Health department,
$370,870
-
Illinois Municipal
Retirement, $812,500
-
County highway,
$379,145
-
County bridge,
$100,000
-
Highway matching tax,
$199,000
-
Ambulance service,
$150,000
-
Tuberculosis, $55,398
-
Senior citizens tax,
$80,000
-
Cooperative Extension Service, $103,000
Returning to the general budget, the board unanimously approved
adding $58,106.64 to the sheriff's budget for the purchase of eight
squad cars. This would be $58,106.64 per year for the next three
years with a $1 per car purchase in the fourth year at the close of
the contract.
The board had previously discussed that the best use of the
$40,000 to $50,000 that would roll over from the sheriff's
department from this year would be to purchase squad cars next year.
The vehicle model that has been in use for years, the Crown
Victoria, is coming into its last year of being made. The department
has a number of high-mileage cars, and purchasing now would save
considerable money overall, not only in likely repairs, but also by
not having to replace size-specific equipment such as lights that
fit only the Crown Victoria model.
When Ruben called for the board to pass the budget as displayed
with the amendments, one member commented. Hepler said he had
initially opposed the budget but now would vote in support of it. He
explained: "One, we have to keep the doors (open). Secondly, I've
seen the hard work that Chuck Ruben and this committee has done, and
I'm not going to vote against the efforts they've made."
The full 2011 fiscal year budget passed unanimously.
In other business, the board approved $31.72 per month per county
employee for dental insurance.
Also, the McLean County Juvenile Detention Center would be
contracted for 300 additional bed spaces at $80 per day. The current
contract was already 40 days over, Ruben said.
[By
JAN YOUNGQUIST]
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