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The 2003 budget contains a general fund
property tax increase of 1.6 percent and a deficit of about $190,000
in the general fund. Levies for the ambulance service and liability
insurance funds are cut in order to shore up the general fund. [See
previous article: "County files $4.7 million budget with 1.6
percent property tax increase."]
Jim Griffin, the lone dissenter,
explained that he objects to deficit budgets and the resultant
decline in the county’s general fund. He said that since he was
appointed to the board in December 2000 the balance in the general
fund has fallen by $1.7 million.
Rod White, among six board members
retiring Dec. 1, has chaired the finance committee for 10 years. He
thanked longtime auditor Gary Hetherington of Sikich Gardner in
Springfield for his help in preparing this and other budgets: "He’s
guided us through the troubled times as well as the good times."
Along with the budget, the board passed
the following levies:
• General fund, $873,870
• Ambulance service fund,
$50,000
• Liability insurance
fund, $8,500
• Tuberculosis sanitarium
fund, $50,085
• IMRF (retirement) fund,
$448,000
• Health department fund,
$333,370
• County highway fund,
$345,440
• County bridge fund,
$172,720
• Highway matching tax
fund, $172,720
• Cooperative Extension
Service fund, $94,000
• Senior citizens fund,
$80,000
Griffin voted against the general,
tuberculosis sanitarium and health department fund levies as well as
the budget. White explained that the TB sanitarium fund is
maintained in case of a catastrophic epidemic of a TB-related
disease such as AIDS. It also reimburses the health department about
$30,000 a year for nursing services related to TB shots.
Retiring board members were recognized
for their service: Rod White, 20 years; Doug Dutz, 12 years;
Clifford Sullivan, six years; Roger Bock, three years; Jim Griffin,
two years; and Tom Cash, one year. Dick Logan received a gavel for
his two-year service as board chair.
In a new issue not presented at
Thursday’s meeting, the board voted to support a proposed state bill
to permit raising filing fees in criminal and civil cases. Circuit
Clerk Carla Bender explained that minimum and maximum fees are set
according to county population. The fee range for the smallest
counties, including Logan, has not changed since 1976. Within the
state-sanctioned range, the county board sets the fees. Bender
estimated that if the proposed minimum increase had been in effect
in 2002, her office would have taken in at least $50,000 more from
people filing a lawsuit or convicted of a crime. Griffin opposed the
motion.
Bender announced savings of $352.50 a
month in fiber-optic connections for county offices. Previously the
11 offices using the service together paid $540 a month to Verizon;
now a state office will provide the connection for $187.50 a month.
In other business the board formalized
stands taken on Thursday, voting to:
• Approve a three-year
contract with the Logan County Paramedic Association. The contract
provides for an ambulance mileage increase from $4 to $6 per loaded
mile, with no other rate increases and no subsidy in the first
contract year. For the second and third years, LCPA can request rate
increases or subsidies, subject to approval by the county board. The
contract requires the paramedic association to replace consumables
at its own expense and to pay for parts and repairs up to $500. In
the first year the county must set aside $13,500 for repairs over
$500. In subsequent years paramedics can request a raise in the
amount the county provides.
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this article]
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• Adopt the 13-day 2003
holiday schedule set by Chief Circuit Judge John P. Freese, but
replace Casimir Pulaski day (March 3) with Dec. 26. Dale Voyles
specified that the resolution is contingent on not being in conflict
with highway department contracts.
• Purchase a hydraulic
lift for the highway department from Misco Service & Supply at a
cost of $37,569.
• Pay $11,000 for
appellate prosecutor services. The expense is included in the
state’s attorney’s budget.
• Approve two improvement
projects for Logan County Airport in 2004. The county’s share is
$13,530 for both a truck with snow blade and reconstruction of the
entrance road. Federal and state governments will pay $197,070.
• Hire Heritage in Flight
to manage the airport from May 1, 2002, to April 30, 2003, for $1.
• Hire Tom Larson to
remove snow from county property for $410 per occasion. Larson will
clear snow at the courthouse, safety complex, Dr. John Logan
building, health department and airport.
• Approve a crop-share
farm lease with Darrell Paige for the county farm and a farm
operation license agreement with Paige for the airport.
• Rezone three acres owned
by Ron Rohlfs from agricultural to country homes use. The property
is near Grand Oaks Estates in Chester Township. White opposed the
measure.
The board formally forgave a 1988 loan
to the Logan County Cemetery District for $100,000. The loan
consisted of tax money collected by the county to maintain county
cemeteries. When the cemetery district was formed to take over that
function, the county gave it all maintenance equipment and the loan
as start-up money. No interest has been received since 1991, when
the cemetery district showed that it could no longer afford to pay.
The loan was later written off the county books as uncollectible.
However, it was not formally forgiven. The cemetery district
maintains 44 of the 60 cemeteries in the county. It receives
interest on their endowments but must use it for maintenance.
State’s Attorney Tim Huyett said the endowment principal cannot be
invaded.
In a personnel matter the board voted
to employ Lester Thomson as animal control administrator and Sheila
Farmer as animal control warden for fiscal year 2003. Griffin
explained his votes against both appointments: "We’ve got problems
out there. I think we should put this off and have more discussion."
White said the state requires the board to fill the positions. The
new board can rescind these or other appointments at any time, he
added.
Several citizens were named to boards
and committees:
• To the Logan County
Board of Health: Paul Kasa, Mike Rohrer, Todd Walker and Roger Bock.
• To the new safety
committee: Tom Hickman, Dana Brown, Dennis Reeves, Dan Fulscher and
the chair of the board’s insurance and legislative committee.
• To the safety complex
audit team: Doug Dutz, Ray Vonderahe and Ron Ross.
• To the health department
negotiating team: Gloria Luster and Dick Logan.
To the Planning and Zoning Board: Tom
Cash.
At the
beginning of the meeting, Main Street Lincoln director Cindy
McLaughlin presented an Illinois FIRST check for $13,000 to board
chair Dick Logan. The money, secured by former Sen. Bob Madigan, is
for improvements to Scully Park and the Indian Mother statue on the
courthouse lawn.
[Lynn
Spellman]
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