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Committee chair Rod White said he is
certain the budget approved on Nov. 19 will not be the same as the
one proposed, because the full board always makes changes.
Nevertheless, this proposal represents six weeks of work by
committee members Roger Bock, Lloyd Hellman, Dick Logan, Clifford
Sullivan, Dale Voyles and White.
To bring the projected deficit to a
manageable level, committee members voted to include in their
proposal a 1.6 percent increase in the general fund levy to a tax
rate of .2373. This is expected to yield about $250,500 more for the
general fund. However, the committee also proposes to reduce two
other levies, balancing $226,500 of the increase. In 2002 the
ambulance service fund levied $125,000. Because purchase of an
ambulance was deferred, the fund now contains more than enough to
buy a new vehicle. The committee proposes to reduce the
ambulance levy by $75,000 to $50,000. Similarly, the liability
insurance fund currently contains enough to cover two years in
premiums for worker’s compensation and liability insurance at
current rates. The proposal reduces the liability levy by $151,500
to $8,500.
Accountant Gary Hetherington of Sikich
Gardner in Springfield characterized reduction in the two taxes as a
way for the county board to buy time until the economy picks up and
revenues increase. He emphasized that the liability insurance tax
especially must be raised again in 2004 or sooner. Insurance
Committee chair Dale Voyles underscored the point by saying he
expects liability coverage to rise again in 2003 along with the
possible addition of a loss control policy.
"This is what we accumulated the funds
for," said Lloyd Hellman, explaining his votes in favor of lowering
the ambulance and liability insurance levies and raising the general
fund tax. Voyles concurred, "We built up fund balances to tide us
over."
Tax caps hold levy increases to the
Consumer Price Index, or 1.6 percent this year. Besides the general
fund, both the health and highway departments are slated for 1.6
percent increases in their levies. This is estimated to provide
$5,000 more for the Health Department and about $11,000 for the
Highway Department. These figures offset some of the benefit to the
general fund produced by lowering the other two levies. This offset
is already figured in to the $250,500 gain.
For county property owners the net
effect of the tax rate proposals is to raise the total property tax
levy $40,000 on about $390 million in assessed valuation.
Hetherington and County Clerk Sally Litterly calculated that the
owner of a $90,000 house would pay $1.68 more in property taxes if
the county passes the budget as proposed.
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The budget for fiscal year 2002-03,
which begins Dec. 1, also includes a one-half cent rise in the
hotel-motel tax, the proceeds of which go to benefit tourism. Last
week the Finance Committee recommended that the first $4,750 of the
expected $10,000 gain go to the J.H. Hawes Grain Elevator Museum in
Atlanta. Museum officials plan to renovate and restore a wooden
boxcar and extend the railroad siding it sits on. Percentage
distributions for Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County and
Main Street Lincoln are unchanged from this year.
Atlanta Mayor Bill Martin questioned
disposition of hotel-motel tax monies, noting that his city and
Mount Pulaski have organizations that could be considered for
tourism dollars along with Main Street Lincoln. He said that
although the smaller cities have fewer hotels to tax, they do send
customers to Lincoln establishments. White said the grant to Hawes
Elevator would set a precedent, since fund monies have not
previously been given to organizations not affiliated with the
tourism bureau.
Despite paring departmental and other
requests, the proposed budget includes pay raises totaling $12,000
for the 30 county employees not on union contract. If passed by the
county, the increase would be distributed among the budgets of the
various officeholders. The breakdown by department and employee is
not yet determined, but the raise is somewhat higher than the 1.6
percent CPI.
The Finance Committee began with about
a $700,000 general fund deficit several weeks ago, which it has
pared to $150,000 in the proposed budget. Committee members shaved
$265,000 from the shortfall last week. In one instance, $50,000 for
two squad cars was cut from the budget of Sheriff Tony Solomon. In
another, support for economic development was moved from the general
fund to the farm fund, which consists of income generated by the
county farm.
The revenue side of the balance sheet
improved during Friday’s meeting, based on reports from Circuit
Clerk Carla Bender and County Clerk Sally Litterly. They revised
estimates of income from fines and fees upward by $148,000 for the
current fiscal year. Of this increase, $88,000 is attributed to
fines collected by the circuit clerk’s office, $45,000 to circuit
clerk fees and $15,000 to county clerk fees. The new estimates are
based on money collected through August 2002, representing 10 months
of the fiscal year. Using the same information, budget projections
for fiscal year 2003 were revised upward by $105,000 for the three
line items, causing that amount to disappear from the deficit.
The decision
to present the proposed budget to the full board was unanimous.
Voyles made the motion and Sullivan seconded.
[Lynn
Shearer Spellman]
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The federal funds will allow the state
to begin Tier II work which includes the initial phase of the
airport master plan and the environmental impact statement, or EIS.
The master plan will review the
facilities for the airport using input from the advisory group
formed this summer. It is the overall plan for development of the
airport and will determine runway length, instrumentation, terminal
development, air cargo facilities and other improvements. The EIS
will study the impacts of constructing the airport.
"This is great news for the region and
especially for the south suburban communities. The grant continues
our movement toward construction of the South Suburban Airport,"
Gov. Ryan said. "The Peotone airport will provide an economic boost
to the south suburbs and create tens of thousands of jobs."
The governor said the federal grant
also shows the FAA’s support for the regional airport plan agreed to
with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. The plan includes a new airport in
Peotone, an expanded, modernized O’Hare and a commitment to keep
Meigs field open for up to 25 years.
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"I want to thank the FAA for their
support for our long-term plan for the region’s aviation needs,"
Gov. Ryan said.
The $3 million from the Federal
Aviation Administration will be matched by $300,000 in state funds.
The state will likely request additional federal assistance to
complete the master plan and the environmental study in the next
fiscal year.
The airport
will be built on approximately 4,200 acres in eastern Will County,
with one runway and a terminal. So far, the
Department of Transportation
has purchased 527 acres toward the project and will have made offers
on nearly all the needed property by the end of the year.
[Illinois
Government News Network
press release] |
