Salaries for Tazewell County officials who will be elected to four-year terms on Nov. 5 were set Wednesday by the county board.
The board chairman currently makes $31,346. That salary will increase 3% annually from 2024 to 2027 to $35,281.
The board chairman also is the county's liquor commissioner. That salary, now at $2,849, will rise 3% annually from 2024 to 2027 to $3,207.
Current board chairman Dave Zimmerman isn't running for re-election. County auditor Brett Grimm is running unopposed for chairman.
The county auditor currently makes $59,182. That salary will increase 3% annually from 2024 to 2027 to $66,610, not including an annual $6,500 state stipend.
William Funkhouser is running unopposed for county auditor.
The county's circuit clerk currently makes $103,819. That salary will increase 3% annually from 2024 to 2027 to $116,849, not including an annual $6,500 state stipend.
Incumbent Circuit Clerk Linc Hobson is running unopposed.
The county coroner currently makes $84,847.
That salary will increase about 12% to $95,000 in 2024, nearly equal to the $95,460 earned by the Peoria County coroner, and 3% annually from 2025 to 2027 to $103,808, not including an annual $6,500 state stipend.
Board members voted 10-5 to increase planned 1% annual raises from 2025 to 2027 for the coroner to 3% annually to make the percentage increase equal to the other elected officials, as suggested by board member Bill Atkins.
Incumbent Coroner Charles Hanley is running unopposed.
Board member Sierra Smith resigns: ' I have decided that it is the appropriate time to step down'
Sierra Smith has the given up her seat on the board, which approved her resignation Wednesday.
Smith, a Washington resident who represented District 3, didn't give a reason for leaving the board in her resignation letter other than to say "I have decided that it is the appropriate time to step down."
She was appointed to a vacant board seat in May 2022 at age 20 and elected in November 2022.
Smith said in her letter that she's grateful for the opportunity to serve on the board.
"I was so honored to be appointed and elected," she said. "This has truly been an unforgettable learning experience. I'm eager to see how the board continues to be a blessing to our community."
Smith graduated from Washington Community High School in 2020 and Illinois Central College in 2022.
The board has 60 days to appoint a replacement for her.
Board approves intergovernmental agreement with the city of Pekin
An intergovernmental agreement between the city of Pekin and Tazewell County that helps clear the way for the county's construction of a proposed annex for its Justice Center received the board's blessing Wednesday.
Among other things in the agreement, the county will make its recently-paved 45-space parking lot east of 414 Court St. in downtown Pekin available to the public 24/7 in exchange for purchasing vacant lots on the 300 block of Court, the site of the proposed annex, from the city for $1.
The Pekin City Council approved the agreement April 8.
Road work and program to control feral cat population approved
In other actions Wednesday, the board:
- Awarded a $3.01 million contract to low bidder R.A. Cullinan of Tremont for hot-mix asphalt, milling and resurfacing on about eight miles of county roads.
- Authorized Tazewell County Animal Control to start a trap-neuter-return program to control the county's growing feral cat population.
- Approved rules that call for a board member who is often absent from committee meetings without cause to be removed from that committee, and mandate that board members apply for reimbursement for travel and other expenses within 60 days following the last day of the month the expense was incurred.
