County board again tables IMRF resolution
The Saline County Board discussed concerns about board members participation in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund and revenue for the county government during Thursday's meeting.
Beginning the agenda of new business, the board unanimously approved increases in the fees charged by the Saline County Circuit Clerks office for various services and actions related to civil and legal procedures in the county. Examples of these would be, summons, adoption, probate of wills.
County Clerk Kim Buchanan then addressed the board on the IMRF participation issue. The IMRF is a state-managed retirement pension fund in which municipal workers are eligible to participate. Buchanan informed the board that she had been contacted by an IMRF official and informed that the board must decide as to whether or not to participate in the IMRF. If the board decided to participate it must pass a resolution as to the fact that board members work on board-related topics for at least 600 hours each year. The board would also have to document this with time sheets.
The board reacted negatively to the demand from the state to pass such a resolution (prepared for the board by the IMRF) and questioned the lack of solid information and answers to board questions from IMRF workers.
"We can't confirm that the board meets the requirements. The resolution the IMRF gave us to pass is flawed in it's composition. We should table action on this again," board Chairman Carey Harbison said.
Board member Joe Jackson questioned why the board was revisiting the topic.
"I don't know why this is back on the agenda after we tabled it at the last meeting," Jackson said.
Buchanan told the board that, "Whether or not the board members meet the 600 hours requirement is all you would be voting on."
Buchanan added that the IMRF had told her that failure to act on the matter could, "Become a legal issue and result in an audit of board finances."
Board member Danny Gibbs spoke at length on the subject, the lack of information and interaction from IMRF workers and his perception of the flaws in the IMRF regulations.
"This current problem is all caused by legislative action taken by the state," Gibbs said, adding the fact that a participating board member, upon retirement, would receive approximately $21 a month from the IMRF pension.
After further discussion and following a motion from member Jackson, the board moved on to other items, effectively tabling a decision on the resolution.
The board then heard a report on county revenue, learning that the county was only receiving some 59 percent of the projected revenue for this fiscal year which is $338,000 behind where projections had placed the county revenue. Budget and Finance Committee Chairman Joe Jackson spoke on the subject stating that a major expense for the county was the cost of housing prisoners in the county detention facility.
"The cost of housing prisoners is hurting us. Where is the sales tax revenue?" Jackson said.
Harbison then stated that he felt the lack of sales tax from the various video gambling establishment in the county was a major reason for the lack of sales tax revenue for the county.
"That's where a lot of the sales tax is going, to the city not the county," Harbison stated.
This generated quite a bit of lively discussion among board members, with Danny Gibbs informing the board that his research showed that some $300,000 of income each month was being generated by the video gambling establishments in the county and the county was not, at this point, able to recover any sales tax from it. Board member Kelly Hefner stated that he felt that the city of Harrisburg - because it passed a gambling ordinance - is getting considerable tax revenue from video gambling.
Gibbs, Hefner and Harbison all favor seeing if there is a way for the board to develop an ordinance which would allow the county to gather tax money from video gambling establishments and machines located in unincorporated areas of the county. While this was not a voting or action item, the board appeared generally in favor of pursuing this option.
The board heard from Jackson a statement that the Budget and Finance committee would begin preparing the budget for the next fiscal year and there may be difficult financial decisions to make.
"It's gonna be tough, there may be cuts," Jackson said.
County Highway Engineer Jeff Jones spoke to the board briefly on the topic of increased cost of road salt, informing the board that because of shortages of supply, the cost per ton would go up to over $100 per ton.
"We are going to take a financial hit on that," Jones said.
In other action the board: Unanimously approved a resolution to ask the Illinois Department of Transportation to reappoint Jeff Jones as county highway engineer.
Appointed to Jeffery Griffin to replace JoAnna Lane on the 911 Emergency Board. Lane resigned and the Griffin will fill the position for the remainder of Lane's term.