Logan County Board prepares to vote on FY Budget

 

[November 23, 2020] 

At the Logan County Board Workshop, Thursday, November 19, several action items were brought forward to be put on the agenda for Tuesday’s voting meeting.

Board members present were Dave Blankenship, Emily Davenport, Janet Estill, Cameron Halpin, David Hepler, Steve Jenness, Annette Welch and Jim Wessbecher. Bob Farmer, Bob Sanders and Scott Schaffenacker were absent.

Finance Committee update

One focus of discussion was the Fiscal Year 2020/21 budget that will be taken off display and voted on at Tuesday’s meeting.

The budget that has been on display since last month’s meeting included 22 amendments. Board Chairman Emily Davenport reduced 22 items from various departments mainly from line items for extra help, maintenance and overtime. She came up with cuts that would save the county $190,987. These proposed amendments were brought forward at last month’s Board Workshop. The line amendments will be voted on Tuesday.

Action items include several resolutions and amendments. These include the following motions.

- To approve a resolution to amend FY 19/20 Budget for Building and Grounds Committee.

- To transfer $100,000 from monies to be escrowed to Building and Grounds for a facility manager/building maintenance engineer.

The Building and Grounds Committee has recommended hiring a Facility Manager/Building Maintenance Engineer. Blankenship said this person could be utilized at county facilities with the exception of the Safety Complex because the sheriff has his own maintenance staff.

Items the board must vote on annually include:

- A Resolution for Annual Abatement Ordinance abating the tax levied for the year 2020 to pay the principal of and interest on $600,000 Taxable General Obligation Bonds (Alternate Revenue Source) of the county.

- FY 20/21 Tax Levies. As in year’s past, the board will vote on each one individually.

After the other action items are voted Hepler will make motions to approve budget amendments for the FY 2020/21 Budget and then approve the new budget that begins Dec. 1, 2020.

Hepler said there may be several amendments made once the budget comes off display.

Since the Public Defender’s COLA did not pass last month, Hepler said he will bring it forward for another vote Tuesday.

Another item that did not pass at the Finance Committee level that will be brought forward is a motion to approve a donation to Greater Peoria Economic Development Council.

Though Hepler plans to motion for a $5,000 donation to the GPEDC, he said he has not seen the value the county has received from it. He would like it if the GPEDC could provide the county with any updates or inputs as to what we can expect out of them. Right now, he is not inclined to continue the funding.

Hepler recently talked to someone from Heartland who said there are some in the GED program who cannot afford the $120 in fees to take the GED. If the money is not used for GPEDC, Hepler would like to see the money used to help those who take the GED each year and cannot afford the fees. He said it could help 40 people.

The people would likely be vetted by someone from CAPCIL. Hepler said they could possibly use some of CAPCIL’s program later.

Since attending a GPEDC led business roundtable last January, Wessbecher said he has not seen any results from them. He would like more response.

Blankenship said the board should consider the total amount of dollars it has given these past several years and what return we have gotten on the investment.

Over the years, Blankenship feels there has been too much emphasis on incentivizing new business without regard for the existing businesses. He said that ultimately results in zero gains.

For Blankenship, one question is what is the gain in losing well-established business then incentivizing a new one? These undertakings are touted as progress, but shouldn’t progress include business retainment? Blankenship said it does not seem right to dispense incentives to new business and exclude retainment incentives for existing businesses.

While they have not helped a ton, Davenport said this year, the GPEDC did help with the Downstate Small Business Stabilization and CARES Act grants. Both are bringing in significant amounts to the county.

For example, the county approved 22 of Logan County's businesses in June for the downstate grants. Most businesses applied for the maximum of $25,000 for a combined total of $583,440.

Logan County Treasurer Penny Thomas recently found out the county may be getting between $325,000 and $400,000 from the CARES grant. Initially, she expected the county would receive $250,000 to $300,000.

This week, Davenport said the county received an $113,000 check from the state.

Since the county is likely to receive at least $75,000 more from CARES than they expected, Hepler said he may make amendments for increases.

If the county is going to give increases to non-union employees, Hepler said either they should all get them, or no one should. Some departments have already provided increases based on extra money in their budgets. Hepler wants more consistency with how non-union people are treated.

Some employees did not receive an increase from January to November or are not eligible for an increase in compensation in the FY 2020/21 budget. Therefore, Hepler plans to suggest the employees who did not receive increases get $1,000 in a lump sum check in July. Right now, he is not sure how many people there would be.

Blankenship said we need to consider making a pro or con statement about raises in the future. In his almost seven years on the board, Blankenship said raises seem to be consistently given out.

While Blankenship said the employees may deserve raises, he encouraged people to look at the private sector. In the private sector, some have not had raises for many years. Even some large companies do not give raises annually.

In looking at the budget, especially during covid, Blankenship said the county needs to make a statement. The county must consider the loss of businesses and taxes increasing without an increase in revenue. Blankenship said sales taxes will likely be lower this year. He has supported increases in the past but cannot support the decision during these unprecedented times with all the factors considered. Blankenship said he was speaking as a constituent as well as a board member.

With some counties having to lay employees off this year, Davenport said our county has been fortunate.

Logan County States Attorney Brad Hauge said it is up to department heads to choose how to disburse funds and spend them as they see fit. The board cannot direct them in how to disburse the funds.

Jenness asked about keepings tighter reins on their overall budgets.

Wessbecher asked whether we could designate $1,000 for the extra pay increases.

It would be up to officials to choose how to use that extra $1,000, though Hauge said the board could suggest it be used for the increases.

Hauge said a number would need to be figured out by Tuesday. Hauge said they are stuck in with line items and department heads will choose how to spend the money.

Another amendment Hepler said may be brought forward would be for up to $4,000 in salary increases in the assessor’s budget. It will allow those in the assessor’s office who completed a rigorous training process to receive appropriate compensation. Hepler said the funds can be moved around from within that budget by decreasing a couple other line items.

Halpin motioned to amend a line item in the Circuit Clerk’s budget from $19,000 to $10,000.

Davenport said the $19,000 amount was put in there by mistake.

After the budget comes off display, Hepler said the board may do amendments one by one.

Other Committee updates

Blankenship will bring forward the following motions from the Building and Grounds Committee:

- To have the chairman appoint a sub-committee to look into the job description for the facility manager/building maintenance engineer. They would hire a maintenance service company to do the work.

- To accept the Design Fee contract for CTS to construct the specifications and bid documents for the exterior dome restoration portion of this project only.


Animal Control Committee Chairman Steve Jenness will bring forward motions to approve the re-appointment of Jane Whiteman as Animal Control Warden and Matthew Viner as Animal Control Assistant Warden

The following motions will be brought forward from the Executive and Personnel Committee:

- To approve a Memorandum of Understanding between Logan County and the Logan County ETSB to identify roles and responsibilities in supporting the operations of dispatch services. There was restructuring in some of the roles last year.

- To approve grant funding of $4,000 for GIS and Tri-County Regional Planning Commission.

The following Road and Bridge motions will also be voted on Tuesday:

- To appropriate $4.3 million for construction of the western section of Fifth Street Road Project. Logan County Highway Engineer Bret Aukamp said the funding will come from motor fuel tax and a $2 million donation from Liberty Power, who owns the Sugar Creek Wind Farm project.

- To approve appropriate $1,019,479.15 of Motor Fuel Tax funds for maintenance work in 2021.

- To extend the collective bargaining agreement with Teamsters Local Union 916 beyond the November 30, 2020 expiration date.

- To approve an engineering agreement with Veenstra & Kimm for $72,739 to design the bridge rehab of County Highway 20 over Sugar Creek.

Recognitions and appointments:

On Tuesday, Logan County Circuit Clerk Mary Kelley and Logan County Coroner Bob Thomas will be recognized for their many years of service to the county. Kelley has worked for the county since 1979 and Thomas since 2004. Both retire at the end of the month.

A District 1 candidate needs to be appointed to fill the vacancy left by the sudden death of Chuck Ruben. Keenan Leesman and Brittany Ott were brought forward Thursday for consideration. After each shared their background, the board went into executive session to discuss the candidates. On Tuesday, one of the candidates will likely be appointed.

The voting session of the Logan County Board takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 24th at 6 p.m. at the Orr Building on Broadway.

[Angela Reiners]