November Board Meeting

Last night, the Tazewell County Board likely convened for the last time in 2015.  The meeting began with a moment of appreciation  to long-time Public Defender, Fred Bernardi, who served the County in various roles for just under 40 years.

Among other actions taken, the Board:

1) Approved the annual Animal and Rabies Control Administrator Agreement;

2) Approved the replacement hire of a Building Inspector in Code Enforcement; and

3) Renewed a lease agreement for office space in the Monge Building.

Board Member Nick Graff also presented on a request from the ETSB (Emergency Telephone System Board) for a loan to allow the continued operations of 9-1-1 service in Tazewell County.  Currently, the State of Illinois continues to withhold a $70,100.00 per month payment on wireless phone surcharges from our ETSB because there is no State budget.  Given the ETSB has over $100,656.00 in monthly expenses, this wireless surcharge is a vital source of revenue.

I appreciated the opportunity to ask questions of Mr. Graff (who serves as our liaison to the ETSB), along with other ETSB members (such as local police chiefs and sheriff's deputies).  The loan request is $200,000 to pay existing bills with an additional $50,000 should there be the need in January 2016.  While Board members raised legitimate areas of concern (including the status of other creditors, learning what other ETSBs are doing) no one disputed the importance of working to find solutions in funding our ETSB. Ultimately, the Board approved the loan with a contract that allows the County to call the loan due at any time, and with the obligation the ETSB pay back the loan no later than December 1, 2016.

While we have heard from various departments on how the budget crisis is impacting their operations, this is one of the first instances where an agency is asking for a loan because it is not getting access to its funds.

You may be aware that the Illinois House recently approved a measure (House Bill 4305) that would have released these ETSB funds as well as other sources of revenue for local government (e.g., Motor Fuel Tax funds, etc.) despite the fact we do not have a State budget.  However, even with the support of 115 Representatives (including all of our local legislators), the Bill never made it to the Illinois Senate, as Representative Barbara Flynn Currie of Chicago filed a "motion to reconsider" the vote.  The Bill now sits in limbo.  I have followed up with Representative Flynn Currie (a copy of which appears below).

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Representative Flynn Currie:

I hope this email finds you well.  My name is John Redlingshafer, and I am a member of the Tazewell County Board.  On behalf of our roughly 140,000 residents in Central Illinois, I am writing to you regarding House Bill 4305, in an effort to learn more about your motion to reconsider the bill after it passed the Illinois House 115-001-001.

At our County Board meeting tonight, we received a request from our County ETSB for a substantial (six figure) loan to carry it through the next few months as the roughly $77 million allocated to local ETSBs and related entities in HB 4305 did not go to the Senate for consideration.

I am confident other ETSBs/counties will be facing this scenario with greater frequency as we continue without a state budget (or a relief bill), but also anticipate our local road districts/highway departments will be making requests for loans as motor fuel tax funds continue to be withheld.

I would greatly appreciate a response (by email or by phone - 309.696.2961) with your insight as I know our board is left to try and anticipate how we can best address loan requests from our various agencies in the near future.

Thank you in advance,

John Redlingshafer

Tazewell County Board

McKenzie Building

11 S. 4th Street, Suite 432

Pekin, Illinois 61554