County Resolutions

Following up from the last Year Ahead post, the News-Gazette laid out some New Year's resolutions as political goals for voters and elected officials alike in a two part editorial (Part 1 here, Part 2 here). County excerpts below:

Resolutions for 2018, Part I of II
For the Champaign County Board: Act on the recommendations from the Racial Justice Task Force.

A month ago, the task force issued its 31-point report. Now the ball is the county board's court. The board created the task force two years ago. It's time for the board members to hold up their end of the bargain and evaluate the report.

Urbana Democrat Robert King, who chairs the board's Justice and Social Services Committee, said he believes the county board won't let the recommendations gather dust.

Given the county's fiscal limitations, acting on some of the recommendations may not be practical. But others, such as releasing defendants before trial rather than holding them in the county jail, may be "low hanging fruit," as one task force said.


Resolutions for 2018, Part II of II
For the Champaign County Board: Sell the county nursing home.

We understand a significant portion of the public wants the Champaign County Nursing Home to remain open as a publicly owned facility. But there are too many factors weighing against that option.

First, the home has been losing money for years. While it continues to meet payroll, the facility owes $5.1 million to vendors and the county government as of Dec. 12. Even with a new management company in charge, the nursing home is still spending more money than it takes in. According to the county auditor, the home overspends revenues by about $130,000 a month.

Second, the nursing home is not a service the county is mandated to provide. By diverting money to the nursing home, other mission-critical services and building maintenance go unfunded.

Third, taxpayers should not be subsidizing a service that the private sector already provides. A private company has to operate within its means, or it goes out of business. When a government enterprise incurs a deficit, it looks to the taxpayers to bail it out.

In April, voters rejected higher taxes to support the nursing home, and they voted to authorize the county board to sell it. It's time for the county board to listen to its constituents.