Sangamon Sun

Hancock County Finance, Fees and Salaries Committee met May 8

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

The meeting was called to order by committee chair Wayne Bollin at 9:00 a.m. Members in attendance included Dennis Castlebury, Harry Douglas, Joe Boyles, Steve Lucie, Lee Ann Lambert, Alex Blythe, and Mark Menn. Visitors included Keara Weber, Michael McVey, and Holly Wilde-Tillman.  

Ms. Weber handed out the financial report for the circuit clerk’s office. They are collecting fines from 1999. She has hired somebody for her office. She left at 9:05 a.m.

Mr. McVey stated that things are moving along and are in good shape. The 2024 tax year is almost finished. We are just waiting for a multiplier. The assessor’s office has already started working on 2025. He stated taxes should be earlier and earlier each year. He stated that the culture of the building is something everybody should be proud of, it is a positive place to work. He appreciates being part of it.  It is not something you find everywhere. There are some parcels in Nauvoo that have filed a letter of intent for tax exemptions. Other parcels are being looked at to see if they are still exempt. Mr. McVey left at 9:14 a.m.

Ms. Wilde-Tillman stated economic interests were due May 1. Her office has sent out certified mailings to 33 people who did not file. There is a $15 fine when they turn it in. Laredo is a system where people can view records on line. They would like to go back 100 years. She is hiring a coop student to work 3 hours a day and will be paying her minimum wage. This will be coming out of document storage or record preservation. The student will be scanning in old documents to be indexed later. Fidlar is increasing the Laredo subscription fees.  Ms. Wilde-Tillman would like to add $10 on top of the increase to help pay for the scanning. This will be revisited next month.

Ms. Wilde-Tillman is waiting on a multiplier. As soon as she has this she can turn taxes over to Ms. Pilkington the next day. There was discussion regarding wages. She has an IPRF grant of $10,000. Discussion was had regarding where to spend this. Offices will be asked if they have anything in mind for safety.

Ms. Wilde-Tillman stated that Mr. Deshong would like to know where his office is going to be and who is going to be moving him. There was thought about the health department, an office on the square, a church. It was asked where the money would come out of? Is the county obligated to pay for rent? Motion to allow somebody to check on rentals and bring a decision to the board was made by Mr. Boyles, seconded by Mr. Douglas. A roll call vote was taken with all members present voting “yes”. Motion carried.

There was lengthy discussion regarding the opioid funds.  Mr. Blythe made a motion to give 5% to Hancock County Mental Health, 5% to drug court, and the rest to be used by EMS for ambulance equipment. This was seconded by Mr. Boyles. A roll call vote was taken with all members present voting “yes”. Motion carried.

Mr. Boyles discussed that we have a new facility for EMS and would like to have new appliances in it. Mr. Menn stated that Mr. Feagain bought a new refrigerator from Homestead Lumber.  

Keith Krohe will be at the meeting next month.

Mr. Menn will get with the departments regarding the IPRF grant. 

There was a short discussion regarding wages. There will be a special finance meeting on May 20th after the full board meeting.

Mr. Menn stated they met with Memorial Hospital regarding ambulance transfers this morning and stated at $225,000/year would be a benefit for everybody. There has been a counter proposal to the sheriff negotiations. There has been no response from them. They are trying to avoid arbitration.

Claims were gone over. Motion to approve the claims other than the Housewright Lawncare and Kendall Beals storage was made by Mr. Douglas, seconded by Mr. Castlebury. A roll call vote was taken with all members present voting “yes”. Motion carried.

Motion to recess until May 20 after full board was made by Mr. Boyles. This was seconded by Mr. Blythe. All members present voted aye. Meeting adjourned at 10:41 a.m.

https://hancockcounty-il.gov/agendas-minutes/