Sangamon Sun

Hancock County Finance Committee met Jan. 9

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

The meeting was called to order by committee chair Wayne Bollin at 8:58 a.m.  Members in attendance included Alex Blythe, Harry Douglas, Joe Boyles, Lee Ann Lambert, Steve Lucie, Dennis Castlebury, and Mark Menn. Visitors were Keara Weber, Kris Pilkington, and Michael McVey. Judge Standard and Judge Clark also made an appearance.  

Motion to move into executive session was made by Mr. Castlebury, seconded by Mr. Douglas at 8:59 a.m. All members present voted aye. Motion to exit executive session was made by Mr. Blythe, seconded by Mr. Boyles at 9:18 a.m. All members present voted aye.

Ms. Weber handed out her financial report for the circuit clerk’s office. She and Bobi have set down and discussed collections. There are new judicial assignments in 2025. They are in pretrials and it is projected that the trial could last 2 weeks.

Mr. McVey discussed the CAMA system again. This will help the township assessors with consistency and accuracy of property values. The initial cost is $14,000 with it dropping to $10,000 for the next 3 years. Mr. Lucie moved to approve the purchase of the CAMA system. Mr. Boyles seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken with all members present voting “yes”. Motion carried.

Judge Standard presented to the meeting and introduced himself.

Ms. Pilkington went over the financial reports. She has some FMLA issues. She would like an employees last working day to be their last day of pay.  

Judge Clark joined the meeting and introduced himself.

Mr. Menn would like to have quarterly meetings with the office holders.  

Motion to approve the supplemental budget amendments was made by Mr. Boyles, seconded by Mr. Douglas. A roll call vote was taken with all members present voting “yes”. Motion carried.

A motion was made by Mr. Castlebury to approve the resolution allowing the county board chair and finance chair to make line item transfers. A roll call vote was taken with all members present voting “yes”. Motion carried.

The board received a letter from the United Counties Council of Illinois. It was asked if the board would like to become a member. It was decided to file this away.

It was asked if there are retention grants for paramedics/EMTs.  Mr. Feagain will be asked about this.

The IPRF grant disbursement will be tabled and discussed at February’s meeting.

The county is in the process of getting a list of outside counsel to help with the sheriff contract negotiations. The retention grant was discussed. There was an initial $122,000 for retention and $28,000 for recruitment. A total of $50,000 was used this year out of the retention money. It was discussed to have Josh Smith or Sheriff Duffy come to a meeting so they are aware of this.

The deputy heads, some board members, and Bellwether will be meeting on Tuesday, January 21 at 3 p.m. to discuss inconsistencies in wages and a possible procedure book for the county.

The credit card bills need to be turned in to the county clerk’s office to be paid. The recourse of not doing this procedure could be having the credit card taken away.

An invitation to the bicentennial was extended to board members.  

Claims were gone over. The tablets will be handed out on January 21. There will be a demonstration at 5:30.

Ms. Lambert made a motion to pay the claims. Mr. Blythe seconded. A roll call vote was taken with all members present voting “yes”. Motion carried.

A brief discussion regarding the ARPA fund allocation ensued.

Mr. Lucie motioned to recess until February 13, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. Ms. Lambert seconded. All members present voted aye. Meeting adjourned at 10:45 a.m.

https://hancockcounty-il.gov/finance-minutes-jan-2025/