 If passed, the budget would begin on Dec. 1, 2009, and end on Nov.
30, 2010.Considerable discussion evolved early in the meeting
over the addition of $60,000 for a new position. The amount was
explained to be a marker in the budget that could bring in a
geographic information system coordinator. Insurance, other benefits
and administrative costs were also factored in.
The GIS development was started and remains at this time under
the Logan County Regional Planning Commission. Highway department
engineer Bret Aukamp has overseen the development of the base layer
of the system.
The technology holds great potential value to government and
other entities in the county. With the base layer of the Logan
County GIS now complete, there are options in its use for county
departments to improve and expand services. It also provides
innumerable opportunities for municipalities, agencies and
businesses in the county through the use of customized layers that
would be added.
Recently, 911 combined GIS and other technology to provide exact
locations where cell phone calls are being made. Identifying the
location of any call and seeing what surrounds that location has
many benefits.
Both Terry Werth and David Hepler recalled that when the project
was presented, around 2002, that GIS was expected to attract
interest and funding from the private sector.
Aukamp said that changed when the Internet took off, and the
public can now get a lot of that information for free.
It is a state mandate that every county in Illinois have a GIS.
The state has made it possible for counties to partially fund their
GIS developments through recording fees collected by the county
clerk's offices. In Logan County a $20 transaction fee is charged,
and $1 is kept by the clerk's office for administrative costs.
John Stewart questioned if a code enforcement officer might be
incorporated into that job. He proposed that this could help get
action on some of the problem properties in the county, such as
those with abandoned vehicles.
A couple of board members were concerned the county might not
have the funds for the position this year.
Finance chairman Chuck Ruben assured: "Because we've budgeted the
funds does not mean we would hire the person. If it comes time to
hire a person, that also would have to come before the board."
"It (hiring someone) is something we are going to need to do at
some point in the future," Aukamp said. It is something that has
been being looked at for two years and could be ready in 2010.
While the duties of the position are yet undefined, he explained
that fees collected from participating county departments and other
entities would help offset the salary.
Aukamp said that a person in this position could do more outreach
and education on the uses of GIS. "It's extremely powerful,
especially for local government. To go out and show how partners can
use it to make their departments better will make the county and
municipalities stronger," he said.
Aukamp suggested that the best way to look at it might be to look
at how much money you are already spending that could be coming back
in. He said that the county is currently outsourcing work that must
be done. He provided the example of parcel mapping that the
assessor's office must use that will need updating this year.
"Potentially we hire somebody in the county, and that money comes
back in to us," he said. "Every time a department wants to create a
layer, instead of hiring that out to a different source, they could
hire that within the county and keep that money coming back in."
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As a longtime member of the regional planning commission and now a
county board member, Bill Martin has been following the GIS
development closely since its inception. "If we bring someone on
board, it will no longer be a part-time job," Martin said. "He will
have more than he can do for quite a while."
Martin thought that the person who would be hired would provide
services that would draw paid fees in a variety ways. Municipalities
and other government agencies and department could have their own
layers.
It will always need the funding it has now, but it is hoped to
develop local government partners that provide annual contributions
for access. There are also a lot of civilian uses, such as for
pipelines and AmerenCILCO.
Martin recognized that Logan County was put to a disadvantage by
falling behind other Illinois counties in getting its GIS started.
"GIS has a timeline," he said and then explained that it will soon
be time to update the base aerial photographs.
There is also new technology that provides elevation, nicknamed "topos."
The GIS committee is preparing for that now. "To get there and have
no money would be saying that we've got a second-rate operation,"
Martin said.
At the close of the meeting, county board chairman Terry Carlton
announced another initiative that could cut costs or raise revenues:
the creation of a Tax Reduction Task Force. The charge of this task
force would be to explore ways to maintain or lower the tax rate for
Logan County and to provide supporting data to substantiate their
findings.
Carlton said that the work of this task force could be done by
identifying ways to increase revenues or by reducing operational
costs. "Ideas could include, but are not limited to: co-payment on
health insurance, opt-out insurance program, variable part-time work
force, outsource services, voluntary severance incentive program,
creating an administrative services group that would include IT,
GIS, central purchasing, payroll," he said.
Options include increasing the public safety tax and reducing the
property tax by the equivalent.
A comprehensive overview of county-owned equipment and contracts
would be performed. The county would need to evaluate all existing
office equipment, including phone system, and related contracts.
The information would be compiled in a report and evaluated.
"This report with recommendations would need to be done before we
establish our tax rate next spring," Carlton said.
Carlton said that on Tuesday he would name to the task force Rick
Aylesworth as chair, Chuck Ruben, Dave Hepler, Jan Schumacher and
Kevin Bateman. The county board chairman sits on all committees and
would sit on the Tax Reduction Task Force as well.
[By
JAN YOUNGQUIST]
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