Tazewell County has a budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which begins Dec. 1.
Board members Wednesday approved the budget, which includes $137,721,219 in expenditures, a slight decrease from the $138,127,456 that's expected to be spent in the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Revenue is projected to be $96,109,109, a decline from the $139,821,810 that's anticipated in the 2023-24 fiscal year.
The proposed tax levy (total tax collected) is $17,487,978, a 4% increase from the $16,737,609 collected during the 2023-24 fiscal year. The tax rate (per $100 equalized valuation) is expected to fall from 0.53 to 0.51.
Not everyone on the board is content with the budget numbers.
"I can't support another tax increase for Tazewell County residents," said board member Max Schneider. "Not when we're receiving record revenue and our reserves are substantial."
"This isn't the right time for a tax increase," said board member Mark Goddard.
County has saved about $17,000 on postage for mail-in ballots
Less than a week before the election, Tazewell County Clerk John Ackerman touched on a few election topics Wednesday during a short report to board members.
"For the first time in a long time, we've filled our quota of election judges. I hope when people go to the polls Tuesday, they'll show some appreciation for the judges," he said.
The county has saved quite a bit on postage for vote-by-mail ballots now that the ballots are being sent out at a not-for-profit bulk rate by KNOWiNK, a Missouri company.
"We would have spent $19,635 on first-class postage at this point. Instead, we've spent about $2,100," Ackerman said. "We received around 600 mail-in ballots (Wednesday). I'm sure we'll receive more as we get closer to the election, and we'll have even more savings."
Ackerman also said the results of county board elections in districts where multiple seats are open will show a more accurate representation of vote totals on the county's website.
"Let's say there are three candidates for three seats. In the past, nobody could get more than 33% of the vote," he said. "But voters can vote for up to three candidates. We're going to count each vote separately, so a candidate could get, say, 75% of the votes. The math is the same. This is just a better representation for the public."
New county health department facility will open in November
Tazewell County Administrator Mike Deluhery announced Wednesday that a ribbon-cutting for the new county health department facility at 1800 Broadway Street in Pekin will be held at 3 p.m. Nov. 19.
The building was purchased by the county from Carle Health in June 2023 and is undergoing renovations. Prior to the county's purchase, the facility was used by the health department for COVID-19 testing and vaccinations.
Sheriff's department fee study, spending for a Parkway Drive project get go-aheads
Also Wednesday, the board approved:
- An agreement with Normal-based Bellweather to do a study of the fees charged by the Tazewell County Sheriff's Department. The fees, including eviction stand-by, transporting inmates to court and housing other counties' inmates, were last reviewed in 2013. Cost of the study is $6,000.
- Spending at least $60,000 to match the funding from the Illinois Department of Transportation for an improvement project on Parkway Drive from Illinois Route 98 to the northern Pekin city limits.
- A 33-month contract with Brightly Software of Cary, N.C., for $54,186 to set up a computerized maintenance management system for the county's Property and Facilities Management Department.
- Paying $2,183,066 to Palatine-based Wold Architects and Engineers for work on the $44 million Justice Center Annex.
- Making a fourth-quarter payment of $18,750 to the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council.
Nine appointments are approved
These appointments were approved Wednesday by the board:
- Bill Atkins to the Tri-County River Valley Development Authority.
- Russ Crawford and Greg Menold to the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission.
- Nick Graff, Dawn Cook and Thomas Haas to the Emergency Telephone System Board.
- Nancy Proehl to the Tazewell County Farm Bureau.
- Dan Schopp to the Mackinaw Valley Water Authority.
- Marcus Camp to the East Peoria Drainage and Levee District.
