Peoria County Board - Finance Audit and Legislative Affairs Committee met Jan 7

Nathan Hoerr, Board Member - District 8 | Peoria County Website

By Kristine Gonzales-Abella

Feb 4, 2025

Peoria County Board - Finance Audit and Legislative Affairs Committee met Jan 7.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Attendance

Present:

Members: Member Daley, Member Blair, Member Coates, Member Dillon, Member Duncan, Member Groves Allison, Member Phelan, Member Reneau, Member Rosenbohm, Member Ruhland, Member Salzer

Staff & Guests:

Scott Sorrel, Shauna Musselman, Michael Toren, Heather McCord, Julie Kusturin, Nicole Bjerke, Megan Bentley

Absent:

Members: Member Williams, Member Kelch, Member Rieker and Member Windish

1. CALL TO ORDER

1.1 Approval for Temporary Chairperson

A motion to appoint Member Dillon as a temporary Chairperson was made by Member Rosenbohm and was seconded by Member Blair.

Motion Carried. (9-0)

Absent: Member Williams, Member Kelch, Member Rieker, Member Windish

Approval to Join via Teleconference

1.2 A motion to approve Member Daley to join the meeting via teleconference was made by Member Duncan and was seconded by Member Reneau.

Motion Carried. (9-0)

Absent: Member Williams, Member Kelch, Member Rieker, Member Windish

1.3 Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Dillon at 3:03 pm.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

2.1 December 3, 2024

A motion to approve the Finance, Audit and Legislative Affairs Committee meeting minutes from December 3, 2024, was made by Member Rosenbohm and was seconded by Member Salzer.

Motion Carried. (11-0)

Absent: Member Williams, Member Kelch, Member Rieker, Member Windish

Teleconference: Member Daley

3. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS / REPORTS / OTHER MINUTES / UPDATES

3.1 Monthly Financial Report: October 2024

Monthly Financial Report: Ms. Kusturin directed the committee to the Monthly Financial Report in the packet. She provided highlights from the report to include the Intergovernmental Revenue with a PPRT expense which was lower in 2024 because of an error at the state. In January, they received their first distribution, and it was lower than expected. She advised there are a lot of transactions that will be posted from now until the end of February, then the financials will be officially closed out at the end of June. She advised the Planning and Zoning Grant Fund shows a negative fund which is temporary because there will be offsetting revenue; the fund should have a zero balance. Ms. Kusturin stood for questions; there were none.

3.2 Long-Term Care Services Fund Report - October 2024

Ms. McCord advised as of the end of October, the fund balance in the Long Term Care Services fund was just under $3.3 million. Ms. McCord stood for questions; there were none.

3.3 November 2024 Accounts Payable Review

Ms. McCord advised there were quite a few transactions which are detailed in the packet. Ms. McCord stood for questions; there were none.

3.4 Peoria County Capital Projects, Funding Sources, and Progress - December 13, 2024

Ms. McCord directed the committee to the report in the packet. She advised they are getting close to closing things out with the Health and Human Services Campus. Ms. McCord stood for questions; there were none.

4. RESOLUTIONS

4.1 FFY2026 Federal Legislative Agenda

A motion to approve the resolution was made by Member Groves Allison and was seconded by Member Duncan.

Mr. Sorrel advised one of the scopes of work items in the contract with Cozen O'Connor Public Strategies is to develop a federal legislative agenda. Their recommendation is that the legislative agenda have two components; the first is a community funding project, commonly known as earmarks which are specific asks that we make of our federal legislators as part of the appropriations process in Washington DC. He stated historically, as a County we would ask for earmarks when we were able, and we have taken the approach that we should limit the number and been intentional on what those asks were. The other component deals with authorizing legislation and rulemaking which is something we have not done in the past; as those discussions during the meetings in the fall bore out, there actually were several policy-related initiatives we might want to be engaged in. Mr. Sorrel provided examples of what some of those initiatives might be. Within the two larger categories we have prepared a recommendation.

The three projects we are recommending for earmark requests are as follows: ∙ Phase III of the Radnor Road Street Corridor Plan from Congressman LaHood.

∙ Cameron Lane Street Corridor Plan in Congressman Sorenson's district. ∙ Brownfield remediation for Hanna City work camp in Congressman Sorenson's district.

Projects we did not recommend:

∙ Glasford Road Street Corridor Plan

∙ Galena Road Industrial Park

∙ Implementation of Phase I of the Jail Master Plan; the jail sits in Congressman Sorenson's district.

Items seen as State issues:

∙ New animal intake area and HVAC improvements at PCAPS.

We have several recommended policy initiatives with varying levels of support: ∙ Continued funding of the National Center for Agricultural Utilization and Research. Congressman LaHood, Congressman Sorenson, and their predecessors have always partnered on this. We wanted to go on record that this is important to us.

∙ The FCC has imposed new limitations on phone calls for detainees and prisoners at the jail; we want to see those limitations loosened.

∙ Fund County governments directly; we have learned we are good at managing federal dollars directly allocated to us versus having those federal dollars go through the State of Illinois. This is something the NACo Board has talked about, and it is a NACo initiative.

∙ Peoria Lock & Dam recognition, still an important project on the Illinois River that is supported by both our Senators.

∙ The Defense Product Production Act for automation programs which deals with manufacturing programs.

∙ Reconnecting Communities Program.

∙ One of our large employers in the community, Liberty Steel, has had negative impacts on their steel prices and international steel prices. We are looking at making sure we have support on whatever the solution might be to manage steel prices internationally. We were able to connect Cozen with Liberty contract lobbyists and there is active work to try to solve that issue.

∙ Rural Energy for America Program (REAP); we want to make sure that project is funded through the federal appropriations process.

Not recommended this year:

∙ Reintroduction and passage of the Help Improve Recruitment and Retention Efforts for Prosecutor's Act of 2024.

∙ Reassessing food labeling.

Recommendations that are State Issues:

∙ Public safety staffing resident officers for the Sheriff's Office.

∙ Funding for behavior and mental health services in county jails.

∙ Housing and other social determinants of health-types of projects.

∙ Various workforce development programs.

Chairman Dillon called for questions from the committee.

Chairman Dillon asked about budgeting for Glasford Road for some overlay work.

Mr. Sorrel confirmed.

Member Rosenbohm complimented the County Highway Department on the repairs done on Glasford Hill this fall and stated he received compliments from residents.

Motion Carried. (11-0)

Absent: Member Williams, Member Kelch, Member Rieker, Member Windish

Teleconference: Member Daley

5. DISCUSSION

6. PUBLIC COMMENT

6.1 Public Comment

Chairperson Member Dillon called for public comments. There were none.

7. MISCELLANEOUS

7.1 Miscellaneous

Chairperson Member Dillon called for miscellaneous comments. There were none.

8. ADJOURNMENT

8.1 Adjournment