Peoria Standard

Peoria County Board Ways & Means Committee met Oct. 28.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Attendance

Present: Members: Betty Duncan, Matt Windish, Daniel Kelch, Terrence Ruhland, Sharon Williams

Staff & Guests:

Scott Sorrel, Shauna Musselman, Jennie Cordis Boswell, Nicole Bjerke, Mike Brooks, Jimmy Dillon, Julie Kusturin, Heather McCord, Scott Mettille, Dave Ryan, Brooke Sommerville, Michael Toren, Megan Bentley

Absent:

None.

I. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Duncan at 2:59 p.m.

II. Approval of Minutes

A motion to approve the minutes of September 23, 2024, was made by Mr. Ruhland and seconded by Mr. Kelch.

Motion carried (5-0)

III. BUDGET

Motion to adopt the FY2025 Recommended Budget was made by Ms. Williams and seconded by Mr. Windish.

Mr. Sorrel directed the committee to the slide presentation. He advised all funds total $157.9 million for 2025 and the General fund is recommended at $60.3 million. Revenues and expenditures are the same because we are recommending a balanced budget. The Ways and Means Committee has oversight over six offices or departments. Revenues are roughly $5.1 million, and expenditures are just under $4.5 million. There is some change in revenues and expenses over time. In comparison to other County Board committees, Ways & Means has oversight of 4% of revenues and 3% expenditures across all funds. For the General Fund, 7% of revenues are overseen by this committee and 5% of the General Fund expenditures.

Ms. Williams asked if there are any departments within Ways and Means that will be using some of their reserves.

Ms. McCord advised most departments within this committee are in the General Fund. If they go negative, this would be coming from the General Fund. The Supervisor of Assessments does pull expenses more than revenues. In the County Clerk's Recording Automation Fund, there is about $4,000.00 of planned spending. The Election Commission always budgets expenses over revenues.

Mr. Sorrel advised the General Fund is where property taxes, sales taxes and income taxes are collected. Those general revenues of the County will offset any departmental revenue versus expense. Using Supervisor of Assessments or The Election Commission as an example, whatever revenues they don't generate on their own the general revenues of the County will make up the difference.

Chairperson Duncan called for other questions or comments.

Motion carried. (5-0)

IV. Informational Items/Reports/Other Minutes/Updates

A. County Clerk's Office

Ms. Parker advised she had no additional info to add to transaction report.

Chairperson Duncan called for other comments or questions.

Mr. Ruhland stated in early summer or mid-summer the Board approved the purchase new board management software. He inquired as to whether we were getting close to going live.

Mr. Sorrel advised the County Clerk's office has been involved with this project, but the bulk of the responsibility resides in County Administration. He stated training for staff is starting next week. Mr. Sorrel did not recall when we will go live, possibly December Committee meetings or the Board meeting.

Ms. Parker advised there will be formal training for the Board.

Ms. Williams clarified that it was discussed that we would go live in January because of budget, holidays, and reorganizational meetings.

B. County Election Commission

A representative from the Election Commission is not in attendance. C. Supervisor of Assessments/Board of Review

Mr. Ryan advised the tentative portion of 2024 assessments has been completed; all those assessments have been published. The Board of Review filing deadline has passed. They received 457 complaints. A little over 130 complaints are currently scheduled in January for the state Property Tax Appeal Board 2023 cases in Springfield. Some staff will probably be traveling to Springfield for those cases. We send a tentative abstract to the state Department of Review, and they review our numbers to ensure we are close enough to 33.33% so there is no factor that has to be put on at the Board of Review level. When we send the final abstract, this also goes to state to ensure don't have to have a factor put on at the Department of Revenue level. We are locked in to being within the 33.33%. We were at 33.32% at the tentative.

Chairperson Duncan inquired if those 457 complaints are moved within the department and then moved out.

Mr. Ryan advised the complaints are heard by the local Board of Review. They will hear all those cases. Anyone not happy with the Board of Review decision can file a complaint with the Property Tax Appeal Board; they are 1-2 years behind. So, cases are being scheduled in Springfield for the hearings.

Chairperson Duncan called for other comments or questions. D. Treasurer

Ms. Bjerke advised the last distribution was October 18th. So far, we have distributed 96% of the tax dollars collected which is a little over $342 million. The final distribution will be December 6th and the interest distribution is scheduled for mid-December. On October 11th we sent out delinquent 5,423 delinquent notices and published the notices in four different newspapers as directed by state statute. Today is judgement day, we must go to the court to be able to have our Tax Sale which is Monday. There are 18 tax buyers in the sale including the trustee. The last day to pay taxes is this Friday. The payment must be physically in our office by 5:00 p.m. and it must be certified funds. Today is last day to pay online. The Treasurer's office will be closed on Veterans Day.

Chairperson Duncan called for questions or comments.

Chairperson Duncan clarification judgement day.

Ms. Bjerke go to court with petition to have the tax sale. We must show the courts publications we sent to the newspapers and the dates they were published (certification from all the newspapers), a list of all the certified notices and their certified numbers that went to the post office for mailing and there are certain dates to be met to legally be able to hold the tax sale.

Chairperson Duncan asked if the delinquent notice number is normal for this time of the year.

Ms. Bjerke advised this is about on target. The highest they had ever done was several years ago and was around $8,000.00. This usually runs anywhere between $5000.00 and $5500.00.

E. Veteran's Assistance Commission

Mr. Brooks advised the Veteran's Assistance Commission surpassed $17.9 million in lump sum payments to veterans in 2024. We ended in 2023 with $12.7 million which was second in the state only to Lake County. We have surpassed $90 million in total payments to veterans and last year we ended at $78 million. We averaged 426 veterans walking in our doors, in 2023 we averaged 333. Three veteran's service officers and Mr. Brooks attended the Goodwill Standdown and educated veterans on disability compensation. We held four workshops. Goodwill served 280 veterans, of those 145 walked through and 58 attended the workshops. Every single one of our four workshops was full, and we had quite a few that followed up the Monday after and called the office. Mr. Brooks has taken over The Hero of the Game for the Peoria Rivermen. There is a selection process, and they will need their DD214. We have about 8- 10 games left to fill. They get 4 free tickets, a Rivermen hat, and they get honored and recognized at game.

Chairperson Duncan stated it appears veterans becoming more comfortable coming into the office.

Mr. Brooks confirmed this to be true.

Chairperson Duncan called for comments or questions.

V. Resolutions

A. Monthly Delinquent Taxes

Motion to approve Monthly Delinquent Taxes was made by Mr. Ruhland and seconded by Ms. Williams.

Chairperson Duncan advised there were 29 items with 3 removed.

Motion carried. (5-0)

B. Adoption of Amended Predictable Recording Fee Schedule

Motion to approve the resolution was made by Ms. Williams and was seconded by Mr. Windish.

Chairperson Duncan requested Ms. Parker bring some clarity. Ms. Parker advised this is a formality due to a new Senate bill passed which passed on August 9, 2024, requiring all Recorders have board approval of Predictable Recording Fee schedules, even though fees did not change. She directed the committee to Exhibit A.

Chairperson Duncan called for questions or comments.

Chairperson Duncan asked why the predictable fees are needed.

Ms. Parker advised the fee schedule is what customers must pay for court documents. The fee schedule shows what the fees there are, the cost for a standard document and how we arrived at the different fees. There is a standard amount or base fee, and additional fees are dependent upon the document being provided.

Chairperson Duncan stated this is not the first-time predictable fees have come across and asked what year they previously existed.

Ms. Parker stated she did not know which year it was. She advised that recording fees cannot be changed without a fee study. The fee study would need to be approved by the Board and then adjustments in the fees would have to be approved also. A fee study is done to see if we are collecting the correct amount of fees for our services. Ms. Parker advised the fees are not changing because it is felt we are charging adequately. This will not affect our budget.

Chairperson Duncan asked if the recording fees are standard across the board in Illinois.

Ms. Parker advised the fees are not identical across the state. Chairperson Duncan called for additional comments or questions.

Motion Carried (5-0)

VI. Public Comment

Chairperson Duncan called for public comment. There were none.

VII. Miscellaneous

Chairperson Duncan called for miscellaneous comment. There were none.

VIII. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned by Chairperson Duncan at 3:25 p.m. Transcribed and

https://www.peoriacounty.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12022024-1691