Taxes and Budget Forecasts

One of the larger controversies and disputes in the County government right now is on the budget and a possible 1/4 cent tax increase. There is a special study session of the County Board tomorrow April 23rd to discuss both (agenda). The County Board would have to vote to put a referendum question on the ballot for voters to approve a tax increase first. They would have to do that sooner rather than later if they want to meet the deadline to put the question on the November general election ballot.

County officials and board members who believe a tax would bring some stability to the county budget face a couple big hurdles: 

• First and more generally, practically nobody likes having their taxes raised, even if you can convince them it's necessary. 
  
  
• Second and more specifically, the county budget funds are atypically in the green and plush beyond the recommended fund reserves at the moment. It's hard enough to convince people to dish out more tax money when the situation looks dire, let alone when there's an annual surplus. That's where the dispute over financial forecasts come in to play.

For folks who have been following the County's budget woes over the years, the idea of a budget surplus might sound far-fetched. The county has faced dire budget scenarios for years and years, with the threat of a structural deficit almost always looming over the horizon. Prior to the pandemic we've seen desperate attempts to increase revenue, failed tax proposals, skeleton crews in county offices, facilities and IT systems desperately needing maintenance, replacement and repair, etc.

The federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) pandemic relief funding played a role in giving the county budget woes a lifeline, of course. Other positive economic factors have helped keep tax revenue strong. More negative factors like staffing shortages have provided a mixed bag of problems and savings. Personnel costs are some of the biggest chunks of the budget, after all.

So it all comes down to the future and budget forecasts and when, not if, the next recession comes into play. Recessions are notoriously difficult to predict, but you'll find a lot of economists arguing we're overdue and pointing to the various indicators that have preceded recessions in the past. Only time will tell, however.

For the official budget forecast presentation from the April County Board Committee of the Whole meeting you can jump to this video link (presentations slides here) or read the financial forecast report itself.

The County Auditor has very publicly disputed the county budget director's financial forecast at the regular County Board meeting this month. A video link to his presentation and some heated Q&A with board members is available here. 

The auditor is facing a possible censure from the board on his treatment of county staff in his office and some more salacious accusations. An early draft of the censure was discussed at the County Board's Labor Committee meeting this month (page 19 and 20 of the agenda packet PDF). He and his supporters believe that this is a coordinated smear effort over his budget and tax positions. There is a separate Cheat Sheet post on the Auditor controversies.

2025 Budget Process and Forecast:

It's very early in next year's FY2025 budget process for the County Board. The county government's Fiscal Year (FY) matches its calendar year, so we can talk about the 2024 or 2025 budget without much confusion. Some other local government budgets have a fiscal year offset from the calendar year, and that can take some adjustment. The process is laid out each year and generally takes most of the year to complete and pass with a final vote by the County Board itself. From the financial forecast presentation this month:

The County Auditor and his supporters have pointed out that past financial forecasts were not predictive, which is generally true. If one looks at financial forecasts by government bodies, including the county government, they tend to be conservative estimates of how current policies might play out over time (holding for certain economic factors like a steady economy or a possible recession).

Their role as a budget planning tool is typically explained up front. It was the second informational slide of the budget director's financial forecast presentation, for example. They generally don't claim to be predictive and they aren't typically judged on how close they end up coming to future outcomes. They can include "what if" scenarios requested by board members and others curious how an additional tax, spending cut, or economic change may impact long term planning. That's typically just for getting an idea of how that may impact long term budget numbers, not a prediction of the future.

Board members who have defended the county budget directors numbers don't appear to dispute the non-predictive nature of financial forecasts, but also point to the context of why the recent budget surplus exists. One argument raised in the Q&A of the last County Board meeting was that they can't model a budget based on staffing shortages and other costs savings that may be undesirable or temporary at best.

I encourage people who are interested in this debate to watch both the county budget director's presentation and the auditor's presentation to decide for themselves. One might have different opinions on the necessity or political plausibility of passing a sales tax increase at this time, regardless of where one falls on the financial forecast dispute, however. The County Board meeting on that tax issue tomorrow will probably get into the nitty gritty of arguments for and against such a measure. 

County Board Special Meeting Updates

In addition to the extensive County Board Winter Updates from earlier this week, there were a couple extra meetings right at the end of January this month: a special meeting of the County Board (agenda, addenda, and video) and another meeting of the Opioid Settlement Task Force (agenda, video).

The content of both meetings merits an extra post as opposed to simply updating the previous updates.

County Board Special Meeting:

Chief Deputy Coroner Stephen Thuney was appointed as Champaign County Coroner by what appeared to be a unanimous voice vote. There was a vacancy when Coroner Duane Northrup resigned in November. Thuney is also the Republican candidate for Coroner in the upcoming 2024 election. There are two Democratic candidates vying for the office in the Democratic Party's primary election this March, "Deputy Coroner Laurie Brauer and Champaign funeral home owner Seon Williams," according to the News-Gazette.

There was also a resolution recognizing the service of Kyle Patterson who is retiring his position on the County Board to become the City of Champaign Township Supervisor. More on that in the City of Champaign Winter Updates Cheat Sheet post here.

There was also a discussion on the County collaborating with an area consortium, including other government bodies and Economic Development Corporations, to invest in the Illinois Fermentation and Agricultural Biomanufacturing Tech Hub (iFAB Tech Hub) that would likely draw a great deal of investment and skilled jobs to this and other counties in the area. 

At the beginning of the meeting a typo was fixed via an amendment to this addenda item (the correct and amended amount as passed was $10,000, not $25,000 as printed). Carly McCrory-McKay, Executive Director of Champaign County Economic Development Corporation, presented the details of the hub to the board.

Most of the County Board members appeared excited about the low cost for the County's investment and confident in returns in tax base and economic growth to the community. Board Member Brett Peugh, however, raised concerns that the County has been desperately trying to manage its budget issues and looking to make other cuts and budget maneuvers lately. 

Peugh also argued that some county staff have been denied pay raises to this end. This was disputed by the County Executive Steve Summers and staff who stated that all staff received pay raises this year and last.

The $10,000 iFab Hub funding passed with a voice vote after the discussion.

 

Opioid Settlement Task Force Meeting:

Following up on the previous Cheat Sheet update on the Opioid committee, the members heard another presentation from organizations and experts dealing with the opioid crisis locally. This time the task force heard rom the Champaign County Mental Health Board's Executive Director, Lynn Canfield.

The discussion centered around ensuring that diverse voices from the recovery community are heard from in any solutions that may be decided upon. Staffing issues within substance abuse and mental health service providers were discussed in addition to staffing issues in almost every organization, including the County government, that play a role in substance abuse and mental health programs, funding, and services.

During the staff report, there was a discussion of how best to utilize settlement funds towards transportation and treatment needs in the County. For example there was a specific discussion about how the County's rural transportation service via MTD, C-CARTS, might be able to connect Rantoul residents in recovery to services within Champaign-Urbana. Staffing, specifically with drivers, may again be a difficulty.

Chair Locke explained some of the benefits of the data dashboard of local relevant information from local departments, METCAD, etc. She raised concerns about the efficacy of educational outreach with older D.A.R.E. generation adults in recovery and where funds may be best utilized.

Member Jen Straub raised the idea of a substance abuse council similar to the Champaign County Reentry Council or the Continuum of Service Providers to the Homeless, that would bring disparate entities together for collaboration. There was a discussion on how best to do that, how best to ensure that diverse voices of the recovery community aren't lost, and ensuring that such a council didn't divert funding and resources away from clear needs already presented to the Task Force (e.g. medical addiction treatment needs raised by Judge Ben Dyer of the County's Drug Court).

Going forward the task force is looking to hear from the local mental health and substance abuse treatment provider, Rosecrance. The committee will be looking for their input and expectations versus the reality of the services they're providing to the area. A common theme among law enforcement, mental health service providers, and government bodies (local to State officials) is the simple lack of a place to treat some people with severe conditions. This can include serious gaps for folks needing immediate drug treatment when they seize the opportunity to get help or people reentering the community from the criminal justice system.

It can also be the lack of mental health and substance abuse facilities for people who are currently put into the jail facilities because there are no other treatment options available to handle the severity of their circumstances. A recurring theme is that our jail and prison system has become our primary mental health care treatment facilities. Which appears to be born out in the data.

From my own observations in these kinds of mental health committees and boards, there appears to be a frustration that we no longer have the kind of psychiatric facilities that could handle more severe patients anymore. This is matched, however, by serious concerns about not repeating the abuses and mistreatment commonly associated with the same.

The next Opioid Settlement Task Force meeting does not have a set date yet, as it will depend on the availability of a presenter from Rosecrance and meeting room availability.

COVID and Health Updates

After a great deal of litigation, resistance, and another pandemic wave, the mask mandate was lifted in Illinois again. Details about the local school districts and college masking will be covered in posts on the C-U Local Cheat Sheet here. WCIA had some local reactions, including from the local health department:

“Even though we are on a downhill with Covid, we are not completely out of it,” Awais Vaid, Champaign Urbana Public Health District, said...

“Just because the mandate has been lifted, does not mean we still don’t recommend people wearing the masks,” Vaid said.

That’s the message from Champaign-Urbana Public Health, after Governor Pritzker announced his plan to lift the indoor mask mandate for many places at the end of the month. Some bars in Champaign say this may not change business very much.

That full article here. Some businesses and services may still mandate masks, including (as of my last check) MTD buses. Also from WCIA:

The State of Illinois may be lifting its indoor mask mandate on Monday, but federal mandates still require masking on public transportation and on the property of public transportation districts.

Because the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District is administered by the Transportation Security Administration, it falls under federal jurisdiction and is subject to federal mandates.

That article here. For the latest news on MTD COVID protocols, see their webpage here. Groups like Champaign County Health Care Consumers are still encouraging masking and good hygiene habits. The latest wave of the pandemic has begun to subside, with hospitalizations, death rates lagging cases again. The latest update in the News-Gazette put the local count at 292 dead with the latest data.

Champaign and Urbana marked the first COVID-19 Victims & Survivors Memorial Day on March 7th. WAND reported that Champaign's proclamation would make it the first Monday of March. More from WCCU:

The cities of Urbana and Champaign, along with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department, declared March 7th as "COVID-19 Victims and Survivors Memorial Day" in both Champaign and Urbana.

Leaders from the cities of Champaign and Urbana, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department, and the Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department gathered today to honor the lives impacted by COVID-19.

Nearly 300 people lost their battle to COVID-19 in Champaign County, according to Awais Vaid, the deputy administrator and epidemiologist at the Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department, CUPHD.

That article here. Smile Politely had some additional coverage and links here. The WCCU article quotes health officials explaining that the unvaccinated continue to suffer the greatest odds of severe illness, hospitalization, and death as the pandemic continues.

Other Health Related News:

• The Smile Politely editorial staff put out an overview and analysis of Champaign County's opioid situation.
• Elizabeth Holder, a local attorney, laid out concerns about Carle's non-profit status and their COVID protocols during the pandemic in Smile Politely.
• Smile Politely also highlighted a Maternal and Child Health event by the C-U Public Health District. Event information on their facebook page here. 

Other County Updates

Champaign County Crime Stoppers has increased its reward payment for certain violent crimes, including gun related crimes. From the News-Gazette:

Sharing a tip that helps solve homicides and felony gun crimes in Champaign County will now yield a much higher reward.

Champaign County Crime Stoppers announced Wednesday it will now pay a $5,000 cash reward for tips leading to an arrest in a homicide and a $2,500 reward for tips leading to an arrest in a felony involving a firearm...

The organization previously paid a maximum reward of $1,000.

That full article here and similar coverage from WCIA here. For more updates on local violent crime and thefts, check out the latest Community Coalition meetings. News-Gazette coverage of the February meeting here.

The leader of the Ford County militia group, that firebombed a Minnesota mosque and attempted to firebomb a women's clinic here locally in Champaign, pleaded guilty to various federal charges related to the local incident. Hari has already been convicted and sentenced for crimes related to the mosque bombing. From the News-Gazette last month:

Hari’s plea agreement in Urbana wraps up four years of work by government agents against the former Ford County sheriff’s deputy turned leader of a Muslim-hating militia group dubbed “The Patriot Freedom Fighters,” later changed to “The White Rabbits.”

[Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene Miller] laid out for Long a summary of the Illinois case.

He said Hari’s leadership of the small band of followers, based in tiny Clarence in northern Ford County, wreaked havoc in several Illinois communities, including Champaign, Watseka, Mount Vernon and Effingham, and reached into Indiana...

The plan to firebomb the Champaign clinic fizzled — literally — when the PVC pipe stuffed with an ignitable powder did not catch fire. Morris admitted he broke a window at the clinic and put the homemade bomb inside. Hari had rented the truck that took the would-be arsonists to the office.

More at the full article here. As a previous Cheat Sheet post noted, the local attack preceded the end of surgical abortion services at that local Clinic, and the last of such services in Champaign County and much of the surrounding region. WCIA also had an overview of the guilty plea here.

There has been an update on early work by area County recorders investigating racial covenants in property deeds, including here in Champaign County. WAND had coverage on the new State law that may make it easier to remove the currently unenforceable, but offensive, language from the official paper work. Excerpt:

Full article here. Previous WAND coverage on area racial covenants here and the second part here.

WAND News extensively reported on this topic and similar issues in a 2021 I-TEAM report. WAND News reporter Doug Wolfe uncovered real estate deeds and other documents dating back to the 1930s and 1940s that discriminated against minorities while allowing whites to get bank loans for homes. County recorders helped Wolfe find restrictive racial covenants and racial restrictions in real estate records that still existed in 2021.

[State Sen. Adriane Johnson (D-Buffalo Grove)] believes the new law will make life easier for those who want their property records updated. 

“Although racial restrictive covenants are no longer enforceable, residents have been forced to jump through hoops to strike the harmful and antiquated provisions from their property records,” Johnson said. “By empowering homeowners to easily remove racist language from their property deeds, our state is taking steps to combat a painful relic of the historical harms done to our communities of color and to root out racism in all of our institutions.”

Other County News and Updates:

• A class action lawsuit has been filed over the methane gas leak in the local aquifer, according to Illinois Newsroom.
• The Champaign County African American Heritage Trail being developed by local history experts and Champaign County's tourism organization Visit Champaign put on a presentation on local African-American history. Blurb from WCIA here. Full video of the presentation here. The initial part of the presentation is about the development of the project. To jump directly to the local history presentation, click here.
• A nature preserve is expanding outside of Villa Grove according to WCIA. More information on the organization behind preserving and restoring tallgrass prairie here at the Grand Prairie Friends webpage.
• Smile Politely highlighted a USA Today investigative article on Champaign County farm runoff and the environmental impact in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Fox Illinois recently posted unemployment data comparing the area Metropolitan Statistical Areas, including Champaign-Urbana and adjacent areas (e.g. Ford and Piatt County), with Springfield MSA and Carbondale-Marion MSA. For more information and maps of the Illinois MSAs, check out the Illinois Department of Employment Security page here.
• High Champaign and Piatt County soybean and corn yields per acre were reported in the News-Gazette.
• Champaign County's water won a recent regional taste test according to WCIA.

Champaign County Updates

 

The possible nighttime white out conditions with the recent severe winter storm forced County crews to halt road clearing operations overnight according to WCIA:

Champaign County Highway Department will cease plow operations from 6 p.m. Wednesday until 6 a.m. Thursday due to the forecasted high winds and white out conditions.

Officials said based on the information that they have received from the National Weather Service, winds will continue to gust at 35 MPH to 40 MPH on Thursday...

Champaign County Highway Department will have plows stationed throughout the county overnight to aid in emergency calls if needed.

Full blurb here.

Petitions for local candidates in the upcoming midterm elections are circulating. It's a good time to help your favorite candidates get on the ballot and get to know who is in the running. From WCIA earlier last month:

Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons asks everyone to be prepared for an influx of people — who want to run for office — bringing a petition to their doors.

Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, Ammons asks all candidates to be masked and bring along hand sanitizer to use in between homes, not just for handwashing but for cleaning pens in between signatures...

The Illinois Primary is set for June 28 this year.

That full article here. 

If you want to learn more about how to be an effective member of a local board and get more involved in your community or a local organization, there is a free "Board Bootcamp" course coming up this month. From Smile Politely:

If you are a new, current, or prospective board member for a nonprofit organization, The Center for Nonprofit Excellence at the Community Foundation of East Central Illinois encourages you to attend their Board Bootcamp, a now quarterly offering that is designed to help create effective boards. 

The first session of the year is on February 23rd from 4 to 5 p.m. and will take place over Zoom. The focus will be on recruiting new board members.

Full blurb here. More information available at the Community Foundation of East Central Illinois website here.

In other Champaign County government news:

• January Champaign County Board Updates Cheat Sheet post.
• See our Cheat Sheet post on the latest updates on the Champaign County Courthouse. Includes updates on the cell phone ban, severe weather closings, and more here.
• Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman spoke to WCIA about initiatives to expand access to mental health care before a situation becomes an issue for law enforcement or the jail.
• The Champaign County Forest Preserve District has a bit of a scavenger hunt available when the weather clears up again. From WCIA.
• What towns and areas are defined as "rural" can have a major impact on where federal dollars go to local government and projects. From Illinois Newsroom.

In other Champaign County news:

• The Champaign County Humane Society raised $17,000 during the Betty White Challenge event according to WCIA.
• Champaign County home sales hit record numbers according to WCIA.
• The Eastern Illinois Foodbank announced a warehouse expansion. From WCIA.
• Update on Miss Champaign County Erica Johnson looking towards the Miss Illinois County Fair Queen competition.  
• A recent Tom's Mailbag question was asking about the Champaign "snow hole" with recent snowfall appearing to miss our area (prior to the severe winter weather warnings this past week).
• That same Tom's Mailbag column addressed fire station needs in Champaign and Urbana. In Champaign they gave an overview of the existing locations meeting current standards, but possibly some expansion issues in the future.
• Champaign County Restaurant Week coverage from WAND. More on restaurant week events and updates with the severe weather at their website here and facebook event page here.

County Board Updates

There are some County government committee meetings coming up this week (more information on those on the weekly calendar here).

Following up on a previous post previewing the July County Board meeting here, the July meeting (agenda here, video here). There was an economic presentation by the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation that delved into some the current outlooks and challenges, including with the coronavirus pandemic ongoing (direct video link here, slide presentation here). There was a handout from the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce with local business owners and operators and the frustrations they have had with the coronavirus, government response, and the chaos both have caused. Many go into heartrending detail about the hurdles they've faced as the livelihoods and economic survival of themselves and their employees teeters over an uncertain future.

The meeting was perhaps more notable for the frustration on display between Board members than any items on the agenda itself. Many of the items were passed in omnibus and bipartisan votes, including authorizing the intergovernmental agreement on the Douglas County Enterprise Zone that would help that county navigate some tax and Enterprise Zone technicalities for a solar project there (presentation at the January Committee of the Whole available here). Also approved was the contract to Tyler Technologies for the new County government server/software replacement, frequently referred to in meetings as the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) System.

Another issue everyone appeared to agree on was rejecting the proposed 6-year Workforce Plan (available on page 72 of the agenda packet, page 75 of the PDF file). Complaints ranged from board members who felt like they or their committees should have been consulted prior to the plan being presented to the board to wanting more input from the workforce itself in developing the plan. Deputy Director of Administration Isak Griffiths defended the process and the plan, but to no avail.

There was some silent protests and angry swearing peppered throughout the meeting as well. County Board member Jon Rector's business logo has often been visible in the background of his Zoom video feed, which has raised concerns about using the County Board for advertising among a couple Democrats on the board. To highlight the issue they changed their Zoom video alternate backgrounds to Rector's business logo:

County Board member Stan Harper took a moment in the middle of the meeting to announce he was going to go on his "semiannual rant and rave about stuff" where he began swearing about how tired he was of people like him being called Nazis and racists. It appeared that the County Executive muted him for violation of the County Board rules. That in turn caused a bipartisan push back about muting board members by the County Executive without some protocol being established by the County Board first. The Executive pushed the meeting along on the grounds that the discussion was off topic on the items being discussed (federal CARES Act election funding which was approved). 

As the meeting was going into closed session, member McGuire complained about the lack of an auditor's report earlier in the meeting. The Executive pointed to the previous auditor items on the agenda as the time to bring it up. County Auditor Danos was on the Zoom call and jumped in and exclaimed that the report is on the County website, "It's done! It's Done!" An argument ensued over the agenda structure and criticisms. There was no Committee of the Whole in July which usually covers reports like this as opposed to the regular meeting.

A handful of board members then struggled to navigate the Zoom setup for the closed meeting live on the County Board meeting feed, sharing phone numbers and codes and a moment where the Chairman of the County Board dropped the f-bomb in frustration for the public to hear (the video is still on the facebook version of the meeting video here).

From the presence requested for the closed meeting, including the Treasurer, Deputy Treasurer, Director of IT, and others it sounded like it may have been related to legal and technical problems with the Treasurer's property tax system. But that's just a guess on my part from the context and the vague closed meeting description in the agenda: "to consider litigation which is pending against or on behalf of Champaign County, and litigation that is probable or imminent against Champaign County."

County Board: June Meeting / July Preview

The June County Board meeting (agenda here, minutes on page 4 of the PDF of the July agenda packet). The YouTube video of the meeting appeared to have a sound problem on the County Clerk's YouTube channel here, so I recommend the video on facebook here.

The big news out of that meeting was that the marijuana business zoning regulation passed in spite of the City of Urbana's City Council voting in favor of a protest to the regulation (forcing the vote to require a 3/4 supermajority to pass). The Urbana City protest, in spite of the county regulation mirroring their own, was against the advice of their own city staff who saw no negative impact. From the discussion at that meeting it appeared they simply wanted the County government to have to have broad support for the measure.

The primary opposition to the regulation was on the Republican side of the of the County Board who wanted more consideration for smaller communities to restrict marijuana related businesses near their towns and villages. The language of this resolution, that had finally made it through the entire legislative process and committees of the County Board, however appeared to be the only real option for now versus even less regulation if it failed. Given the choice between an arguably imperfect regulation or none (that wouldn't make hardly anybody happy), the board voted 19-2 to approve.

There was a bit of a question about whether the County had officially received the Urbana protest paperwork due to the timing of votes and communication with the County Clerk and staff prior to the office closing, but the supermajority vote made that irrelevant.


July Preview:

Tomorrow's July County Board meeting (agenda here) will include a presentation from the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation. There's also a handout from the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce here that has numerous personal stories about the hardships faced by local business owners and their employees due to COVID related policies and shutdowns.

I strongly recommend reading the various pleas and hardships faced by local businesses to better understand not only their plight, but also potential ideas and areas for accommodation and fairness. I don't know where the balance can be had between public safety and economic survival within this pandemic, but if we go too far in either direction lives and/or livelihoods could be destroyed unnecessarily.

Other items on the agenda include approving funding for mail-in voting via the federal CARES act/funding and the intergovernmental agreement with Douglass County on an Enterprise Zone for a solar farm and tax issues with the solar farm there (presentation at the January Committee of the Whole available here).


Other County Updates:

Vote by Mail applications are available now from the County Clerk's office for the November 3, 2020 General Election.

The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District has released its updated guidance for local schools. WCCU coverage here. Full guidance available here.

Champaign County LIHEAP program for energy assistance starts Julty 27th. News coverage from WCCU here. More from the Regional Planning Commission here.

June County Committees

Each month there are a number of Committee meetings that deal with topics such as Facilities, Environment and Land Use, Highway and Transportation funds, etc. The County government is generally much larger and complicated than folks imagine. This can be confusing and confounding for folks just trying to understand how to have their say on a specific issue that may affect them. Democracy is messy and at the local level it takes persistence and learning just to figure out where you can have an impact.

So far this month, before the regular County Board meeting next Thursday:

• Facilities Committee (agenda, video)
• Environment and Land Use Committee (agenda, video)
• Highway and Transportation Committee (agenda, video)
• Committee of the Whole (agenda, video)

The Facilities Committee focuses on the maintenance and building needs of the County. Here is where you would have seen a lot of discussions about potential jail consolidation plans, presentations and overviews of various upkeep and repair projects, etc. At the June meeting, the jail situation was brief and one of resignation. It really sounded as though the plan going forward is to hope and pray that the County can get through the pandemic hurdles and come up with a workable jail plan before they're forced to close the downtown jail. At that point the County would have to find a place to house prisoners separated for safety and legal reasons. And during a pandemic, outside regional jails may outright refuse the infection risk.

With the coronavirus epidemic and economic fallout, there doesn't appear to be any chance of reviving the plans presented earlier this year. An overview of the jail consolidation outlook in February is here with a lot of helpful background information. Below is an excerpt from the last updates from the County May meetings on jail consolidation:

In Board communications, member Stohr advocated an ad hoc committee to look at and possibly revive the jail consolidation plans. Member Harper would vehemently oppose the idea in the regular board meeting's communication portion next week. Jon Rector emphasized the public participation comments on the desperate economic relief needed locally in balance with health concerns. There were other members who spoke on and thanked community members for their efforts to help fellow citizens and other topics...

The jail consolidation issue was brought up again, with all of the concerns about the downtown jail being on the verge of having to be shut down at any time, no current plan to come up with a facilities remedy, and now a situation where other jails are unlikely to accept any prisoners that may need to be segregated or moved elsewhere.

That full Cheat Sheet post here. More information about the consolidation plans falling apart from the March/April meetings here. It was worth noting that some of the glass demand for pandemic related safety barriers has been stretched even more thin by recent looting and window smashing around Champaign-Urbana. No County facilities were damaged in those incidents, however.

The Environment and Land Use Committee (ELUC) often deals with agricultural and zoning issues. This month's focus was on nailing down the language of the cannabis business regulations around towns that may not want certain elements of the industry nearby. In this case there are desires for a 1.5 mile area around such towns where they'd have primary say. There are ongoing disagreements about what that means for the people who live nearby, but aren't represented by those local governments, but rather their County government.

Highway and Transportation deals with a lot of the spending and details of the various road projects and transportation related issues on county roads and integrating transportation with local and State government. 

For your average Joe just wanting to keep up with what's going on in local government, almost all of the work of these committees ends up going through the Committee of the Whole where reports and recommended items are then passed on to the full regular County Board meeting. These steps can be confusing and there are all sorts of rules to ensure that they're done with enough time for public input and opportunities to speak out at each step.

Activists and other folks who have an issue they really care about or could impact them take advantage of these parliamentary steps to pressure County Board members at every step of the way. They do sometimes have more extended discussions and presentations on difficult topics, which can be useful for wrapping one's mind around them.

The Committee of the Whole this month was a bit of a bear, so I'll be doing a separate post on that meeting soon. For folks who can't wait to get their COW fix, I strongly recommend the presentation on the Soil and Water Conservation District local government body (starts at the 28:30 minute mark in the video). It may not sound exciting at first, but they're a government entity created in 1943 in response to the Dust Bowl and have been protecting the last few precious inches of top soil in America.

Their work intersects with our local economy, long term concerns about feeding the population, watershed protection, climate change, and building trust with science in a sector with a lot of traditionalist thinkers.

Drama over malfunctioning property tax systems and accusations of supporting white supremacy rounded off the meeting in ways I'm still figuring out how to write up.

May County Board Updates

May had a return to many of the County Board committee meetings since the initial coronavirus cancellations and transition to remote meetings on Zoom. While most members are still attending remotely, there are some attending in person at the Brookens Administrative building. Some County Board members have raised safety concerns about the current process. Videos of the May meetings are primarily available on the Champaign County Clerk's YouTube Channel:

• 5/5 Facilities Committee (video, agenda packet)
• 5/7 Environment and Land Use Committee (ELUC) (video, agenda packet)
• 5/8 Highway and Transportation (video, agenda packet)
• 5/12 Committee of the Whole (COW) (video (date typo on YouTube), agenda packet)
• 5/18 County Board of Health (video, agenda, Cheat Sheet post)
• 5/21 Regular County Board meeting (video, agenda packet)

Agenda packets are generally available from the County website "Meeting Info" page by clicking the specific Board or Committee you need information for. This is a handy page to get previous meeting minutes and presentation materials and other handouts.

This post gives overviews and summaries of most of these meetings, but also has an additional reference to the City of Champaign's government that has put out a call highlighting a funding crisis being caused by the Champaign County government (jump to that item below here).

Committee Meeting Overview:

The Facilities meeting covered topics like public safety in County buildings, including the County Courthouse. The News-Gazette had an overview of coronavirus related precautions the Courts are taking to begin jury trials soon:

The first batch of summonses for jurors in a pandemic have been sent out in Champaign County with accommodations in place to make the process as safe as possible.

Those include watching jury orientation from home, only reporting to the courthouse when a trial is set to begin, sitting several feet apart and deliberating in a separate courtroom, not a jury room.

More details at the full article here. There was a more comprehensive overview of reopening the Courts earlier this month. Excerpt:

Pieces of Plexiglas are being installed around the witness stands to shield the court reporter, who is seated right in front of the witness, and to the side of the witness stand, to shield the jurors who sit closest to the witness.

It’s impractical to spread jurors out in the gallery because that would preclude spectators from having a place to sit. And Difanis noted that jurors have to be up close to hear audio clips and see physical evidence.

That full article here. The ELUC meeting was covered in the News-Gazette and looked at cannabis business regulations again. More on that at the News-Gazette here.

The Committee of the Whole (COW):

The Committee of the Whole began with public comments from a local business owner begging for economic relief and highlighting the damage being done to business owners and their livelihoods. The County Clerk made comments about the impact of the coronavirus on the primary election and potential impacts and planning for the 2020 general election.

The COW also had a presentation on the Youth Assessment Center and its work on diversion and restorative justice services. The slide presentation is available here. The video presentation is available here with a direct link.

In Board communications, member Stohr advocated an ad hoc committee to look at and possibly revive the jail consolidation plans. Member Harper would vehemently oppose the idea in the regular board meeting's communication portion next week. Jon Rector emphasized the public participation comments on the desperate economic relief needed locally in balance with health concerns. There were other members who spoke on and thanked community members for their efforts to help fellow citizens and other topics.

After the Treasurer's report, there was a technical discussion about payment penalties being delayed or forgiven, but the topic involved some confusing legal technicalities that I didn't fully understand. Deputy Director of Finance for the County, Tami Ogden and the Treasurer's office explained some of the administrative hurdles and complexities involved with some of the suggestions.

A little bit later there was a 50 minute discussion on mitigating expenses for 2020 and 2021. This discussion had an overview of the County's financial situation (dire) and projected hardships and revenue decreases (severe). There appears to be real concerns among Democrats that austerity measures will go too far and Republicans that the Board may not be prepared to cut deep enough to keep the County government functioning. The discussion appeared sobering to all County Board members who were already looking at difficult budget choices before this crisis. The Finance Committee will be looking at the issues and sacred cows raised during this discussion to bring some options back before the board later.

There was some debate on extending the county disaster proclamation, a dispute about the message it sent for reopening the local economy versus its role in ensuring that the County could receive funding related to the the current coronavirus emergency and other funds. Republicans throughout the meeting emphasized the economic concerns while Democrats emphasized the health concerns. The differing emphasis aligned with assessments of economic and health impacts and interpretation of data that has become a divisive topic in both local and State politics.

The jail consolidation issue was brought up again, with all of the concerns about the downtown jail being on the verge of having to be shut down at any time, no current plan to come up with a facilities remedy, and now a situation where other jails are unlikely to accept any prisoners that may need to be segregated or moved elsewhere.

The video of the meeting cuts off around three and half hours in, but towards the agenda of the agenda items. John Clifford resigned at the end of the COW meeting according to the agenda.

Regular County Board Meeting:

The regular County Board meeting began with multiple public participation speakers on the topic of the coronavirus and its impact. There was a presentation from scientists at the University of Illinois on coronavirus data. Will Kyles, an at-large member of the City of Champaign City Council spoke on the impact on minority owned businesses and the need to consider that impact in reopen policies. Others spoke on impacts to those in addiction recovery, the local health care industry, and our local homeless population.

Former County Board member and Champaign County Auditor Diane Michaels was sworn in to fill the vacancy left by John Cliffords.

The County Executive delivered her annual report to the County Board, though the video quality and compression made it unreadable from the Zoom app to the live streaming videos for home viewers. The projections started at a worst case scenario, but overall the outlook is looking grim for future revenues. The current budgets were already strained under debt, limited balances, and departments already operating on limited staff. Maintenance, IT, facilities, and other basic needs have been delayed for years and in dire shape (if not flirting with disaster such as with the downtown Jail or unsupported technology).

The County Executive asked County Board members to make sure their priorities and sacred cows were made known so that the upcoming budget cuts could take their concerns into consideration. Funding for the County's reentry programs and staff employment and pay were mentioned in the discussion afterward.

City of Champaign:

The City of Champaign's Mayor raised serious concerns with the Champaign County Board and Treasurer's Office during "Council Comments" of the most recent City Council meeting. at the 27:40 mark in the full video. She argues that social programs in Champaign and through the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission are being threatened due to a lack of an audit required for funding. She explains that we are in jeopardy of losing millions of dollars of that funding and encourages people to contact to their County Board members to address the audit delay. She says they have been receiving letters from funding providers citing the lack of audit for a potential loss of funding.

Downstate Coronavirus Updates

A lot of the updates on the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak and the related Covid-19 illness have been international, national or specific to the Chicago area. Downstate news has been general preparations and precautions. This post has updates more applicable statewide and specifically downstate and local. It includes updates on safety measures for voters, laboratory testing downstate, impacts to agriculture downstate, an update from Champaign-Urbana Public Health District's Julie Pryde, and University updates (students returning from abroad, role in response coordination, and more).

In today's News-Gazette they highlight various safety measures being taken at polling places to avoid spreading flu or coronavirus. Excerpt with just some of the precautions and procedures:

That office had already developed an emergency management plan for elections that includes flu and pandemic scenarios, she said.

So all polling places — and early voting locations — in Champaign County are being supplied with hand sanitizer, masks, antibacterial wipes, gloves and Lysol disinfectant spray, she said.

Election judges are being asked to wipe down pens and other surfaces as time allows, and they’re welcome to wear protective masks and gloves if they want, Patton said.

More precautions and accommodations at that full article in the eEdition here (subscription).


WCIA had coverage on two labs being added downstate for testing and the possibility of drive-through testing in the future to allow greater testing with reduced exposure risk (e.g. in waiting rooms). Excerpt:

[Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Illinois Department of Public Health director] said the agency is considering drive-thru style testing where people can pull up and be tested in their cars, eliminating the risk of spreading the virus. For now, new labs in Springfield and Carbondale are open in addition to the original testing lab in Chicago.

While 22 people in Illinois are awaiting test results, Ezike said 116 people have been tested for the virus in total. Only four people have been diagnosed with the illness, no one has died of the aliment in Illinois yet.

More at that full article here. WCCU had more on the Springfield lab here and a more statewide assessment on the continued low risk in the State here.


There have been ongoing economic concerns and affects on global trade, but also specifically with Illinois and farming businesses. From Capitol Illinois News last month (also ran in the News-Gazette here - subscription):

After a promising trade deal with China last month gave farmers hope amid an intense trade war, the deadly Wuhan coronavirus currently overwhelming China is also damaging its economy.

The country’s economic slump is now sowing fears that China might not be able to buy all of the $32 billion of U.S. agricultural goods it promised for 2020, including soybeans from Illinois, America’s top soybean-producing state.

A lot more additional information in that article here. WCCU had more on this last week:

The outbreak of the coronavirus is impacting U.S. trade and the stock market, with the effects trickling down to hit local farmers.

China is one of the nation’s biggest trade partners, especially for farmers. Local farmers have seen less trade with China recently.

"Farmers have been hurt over the last two years with the tariffs and right at the brink of when we thought we were gonna be able to get past this, the coronavirus hits," said Somnath Bhattacharya, the dean of UIS College of Business and Management.

That full article with video segment here.


Local Updates:

The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District's Director Julie Pryde had a quick update in an interview with Elizabeth Hess available here from Urbana Public Television.

The C-UPHD has regular updates on its facebook page here and additional information on the coronavirus on their website here.


University Updates:

A lot of students will be returning from their studies abroad in Italy and South Korea according to the Daily Illini. Excerpt from the Daily Illini article on South Korea students abroad:

These new requirements will affect 15 study abroad students in South Korea and 137 study abroad students in Italy.

Additionally, any University-related travel to China, Iran, Italy or the Daegu region of South Korea has been restricted.

Although it is only required that students in Italy and South Korea return at this time, the University is offering all 852 study abroad students to end their program early.

Students, faculty and staff members returning from any countries under the Center for Disease Control Levels 2 or 3 travel advisories will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days.

That full article here. The article on the situation in Italy is here. WCIA had additional coverage on students returning abroad here.


The University also has a role in coordinating the coronavirus response across the State. From WCCU yesterday:

The University of Illinois System is helping to coordinate the coronavirus response with a new COVID-19 Planning and Response Team.

U of I universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and Springfield, as well as regional campuses across the state, will make up the team...

The team will be led by Dr. Robert A. Barish, vice chancellor for health affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

That full article available from WCCU here with video segment.


The 21st Show had a audio segment on how Universities and smaller airports are responding to the coronavirus outbreak here. The guest list includes:

• Nathan Thomas, Vice President of Student Affairs at Bradley University
• Gene Olson, Director of Airports for Metropolitan Airport Authority of Peoria
• Chris Brooke, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Ilinios Urbana-Champaign 

Full audio clip here.

County Updates

This post covers recent Board of Review decisions on hospital property tax exemptions, the County Executive in the news on appointments and referendums, and the County's NOAA weather radio station being down and unavailable for possibly months.


Hospital Property Taxes:

In the recent Court decision granting Carle Hospital charitable organization exemptions on disputed property taxes over several past years, there remained a question on a decision whether or not to appeal by the County Board of Review. Previous updates on the ruling available at this Cheat Sheet post from earlier this month. A News-Gazette article previewed the two decisions facing the Board of Review on 2019 exemptions going forward and whether to appeal the decision on previous years:

Nearly a week after a judge found the Carle health system was entitled to charitable property tax exemptions for 2005 to 2011, the Champaign County Board of Review faces a decision about what to do with Carle’s property tax exemption requests for tax year 2019.

In a brief hearing before the board Monday, county Assistant State’s Attorney Joel Fletcher said local taxing authorities haven’t yet determined whether they will appeal the decision on the prior years’ exemptions.

That full article here. OSF Hospital believes that decision will aid their case for exemptions on hospital properties locally as well. They recently urged local governments to consider the recent court rulings as indicative that the law is on their side. More on that in another News-Gazette article here. The Board of Review's decisions were covered in Saturday's News-Gazette:

Champaign County isn’t ready to walk away from a long-standing dispute with the Carle health system over property taxes.

The county and its board of review will appeal the Feb. 5 circuit court decision that restored seven years worth of charitable property-tax exemptions on four of Carle’s Urbana properties, among them Carle Foundation Hospital, according to county Assistant State’s Attorney Joel Fletcher...

In the decision earlier this month, Champaign County Judge Randy Rosenbaum found Carle was entitled to partial charitable exemptions for tax years 2005-2011 on the four Urbana properties...

Based on that ruling, the board of review further voted to recommend to the state Department of Revenue that property tax exemptions sought by both Carle and OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center properties for tax year 2019 be approved, Fletcher said. Most of those properties are in Urbana.

That full article here with additional information on other specific items.


County Executive:

Yesterday the News-Gazette highlighted the ongoing appointment dispute between the Champaign County Executive Darlene Kloeppel and the County Board Chairman Giraldo Rosales. Both appear to believe that under the new Executive Form of Government that they are the presiding officer who should be making appointment decisions for County office vacancies, such as that of the County Treasurer's replacement. The State's Attorney, Julia Rietz, agreed with the County Board Chairman that in that case, State law gives him appointment authority. Kloeppel still disagrees and may be looking for additional information and guidance from outside the County:

Kloeppel said she disagrees with Rietz’s opinion on this issue, and she’s consulted her own attorney.

The legal question is whether the county executive’s authority is limited to exactly what’s specified in the county executive statute, or whether the split between executive and legislative functions under the county executive form of government supersedes other references throughout state statutes to certain functions of a county board chairman as the chief elected officer of a county, she said.

Kloeppel said she’s prepared to take the issue of appointment-making authority to court, if necessary. For now, she’s waiting to see what Attorney General Kwame Raoul has to say in response to a request for an opinion on county executive powers and duties from Will County, which also has an elected county executive.

More at that full article at the News-Gazette's eEdition here (subscription). The article points out that Kloeppel, given the urgency of filling the position, is not interfering with the appointment of the replacement Treasurer while looking for a more definitive answer on the question for the future.


The County Executive also had more information about how County government works in her ongoing guest commentary series in the News-Gazette. Last week she discussed County referendums, their requirements, limits, and other details. One relevant issue with some of the County Board primary races is changing government structure or funding services. Excerpt:

Referendums can also address the way the local government operates in ways that state law allows. In Champaign County, the county recorder, auditor and coroner are currently elected instead of appointed, and in 2016, creation of the office of the county executive created a three-branch government for checks and balances. Others can change the board structure, such as determining the number of elected board members, electing board members by district or at large, and establishing term limits. These types of referendums are usually for political reasons, although sometimes cost effectiveness or process efficiencies can be a factor as well.

Referendums also can raise funds for the addition of services or discontinue these services.

For example, in Champaign County, the mental-health board and the board for the care and treatment of persons with developmental disabilities were created by referendums that committing additional property-tax revenue for these special purposes. In 2020, the mental-health board will have revenue of $5.74 million ($28.58 per capita) and the developmental-disabilities board is budgeted at $4.37 million ($21.75 per capita) with which to fund local services. You can check out their activities at co.champaign.il.us/mhbddb/mhbddb.php.

Full article with all sorts of helpful information here.


NOAA Weather Radio:

From the weather service website:

NOAA Weather Radio station WXJ-76 in Champaign, serving east central Illinois on a frequency of 162.550 MHz, will be out of service for an extended period of time, effective immediately.

This outage is due to a damaged coaxial cable, which connects the radio transmitter to the antenna. In addition, a new tower location must be secured to prevent future damage to cabling, which could result in additional future long-term outages. The station will remain offline as the National Weather Service works to relocate the weather radio transmitter to a new tower...

While the entire process could take up to six months, we are working to get the NOAA Weather Radio broadcast online as soon as possible.

Several nearby NOAA Weather Radio transmitters also serve portions of the WXJ-76 listening area. None of these cover Champaign County (fringes of the county may receive a signal at times, but not reliable enough to use warning alarm tones). 

More information at the weather service website here. WCCU's coverage had a concise list of alternate frequencies and geographic coverage descriptions for neighboring counties here.

Marijuana Legalization and Technicalities

There have been a lot of helpful guides and explanations of how the legalization of marijuana in Illinois at the first of the year may still have a hitch or two for those who wish to partake. WILL had a helpful Q&A interview on basics like public consumption not being allowed:

Essentially, you will not be able to openly consume outdoors and in public any more than you can alcohol. So, you have to be in an establishment so there will be some dispensaries that will be allowed to have a consumption area and there will be existing retail tobacco stores along the lines of hookah lounges and cigar bars that will also be able to add marijuana to their ability to consume.   There are a lot of worries about people walking through big huge puffs of smoke outside and that is not allowed. There is no public consumption drawn into the bill.

And on state penalties:

If you're over the legally allowed limit, and if you are under age, so this is only legalized for people over the age of 21. And so there are penalties for underage consumption and there are penalties for (possession) over the  legally allowed limit. This is still illegal federally. So, on federal property, there can still be absolute bars to being able to consume in those places.  We have to be very wary. So yes, this is for the most part at this stage right now in the beginning, private. [Under the law, minors cannot be incarcerated for marijuana convictions.]

That full interview and radio segment available here. A more straightforward legal rundown was put out by WILL yesterday here. WCIA had a shorter overview here with a video segment. Tom's Mailbag had an explanation dispelling concerns about purchase monitoring locally or by the State here. Local police are, of course, still warning against driving while under the influence of this or other drugs.

Illinois State Police have tried to dispel rumors that legal marijuana purchases will affect one's Firearm Owner ID (FOID) card eligibility or affect one's right to own or posses firearms:

State and local police say purchasing legal marijuana will not have any impact on your ability to own or possess a gun in Illinois.

Social media posts claim that marijuana dispensaries will be checking IDs of customers and then turning that information over to the state… which will then use that as a basis to revoke FOID cards. But a state police spokesperson says buying marijuana legally will not be used to take away a FOID card, although someone could lose the card if it’s shown they are addicted or a “habitual user” of any drug, including pot.

State police also say it’s illegal for dispensaries to collect or store personal information about recreational cannabis users.

From a WMAY blurb here. The rumors to the contrary have been in local media such as this WCCU article and this one from WAND.

As the News-Gazette pointed out on Sunday, employers are still allowed to set their own drug policies and can enforce them regardless of the legal changes. They go through a great deal of local government employers, from school districts to local government agencies that have maintained their restrictions on marijuana use. Excerpt:

Some employers will consider off-duty marijuana use none of their business unless it interferes with an employee’s job performance.

Some plan to continue zero-tolerance and drug-free workplace policies that include drug testing.

“Employers are very concerned about safety in the workplace,” said Jay Shattuck, executive director of the Employment Law Council of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.

Illinois employers struggling with how to handle the coming of legal recreational marijuana come Jan. 1 should pay attention to these two things, he said: The policies they set for their employees with respect to marijuana use should be both reasonable and non-discriminatory.

Full article with a lot of information here. So far the two local dispensaries are prepared for a busy first of the year. The News-Gazette had details on their plans on giving priority to medical card holders, hours, etc:

Both local dispensaries are preparing for a crowd and lines at the door.

“I’ve been told that people plan on camping out,” said Brendan Jolly, an employee at NuMed, 105 E. University Ave., U.

If you’re a later riser, Sunnyside, the new name for Phoenix Botanical at 1704 S. Neil St., C, will remain open until 10 p.m. on New Year’s Day. NuMed Urbana will stay open until 6 p.m.

Purchases at both dispensaries will be on a cash-only basis, their owners said. And medical marijuana customers will have first priority for the available supply.

That full article here.

The cities where the dispensaries are, Champaign and Urbana, have generally aligned their marijuana laws with reduced fines and consumption rules (more on that at a recent Cheat Sheet post here). The News-Gazette had an update since that post on Champaign ensuring that it's fines would remain local ordinance violations as opposed to a State offense with a risk of jail time:

Two weeks before recreational marijuana becomes legal statewide, city council members signed off on updates to the city code to bring Champaign’s cannabis ordinances in line with Illinois law.

“It doesn’t make anything unlawful that is not unlawful under the state law,” Champaign Assistant City Attorney Kathryn Cataldo said.

If the city had removed the ordinance violations related to cannabis, penalties — such as for underage use — would have become state criminal offenses.

This allows police officers to issue ordinance violations instead, which come with a fine but no jail time.

That full article here. Smaller towns (such as Savoy) have opted to prohibit dispensaries in their jurisdictions. Unincorporated areas in the County were a point of contention in Environmental and Land Use Committee meetings (Cheat Sheet post on that here). Eventually the County Board sent the issue back to the ELUC committee to hammer out a compromise that would allow flexibility away from towns that wanted to maintain a prohibition in their area. There was coverage of County Director of Planning and Zoning John Hall's compromise plans in the News-Gazette earlier this month:

What he plans to send back to the committee to consider will be a change in the county zoning ordinance that would, essentially, prohibit marijuana businesses within the mile-and-a-half zones of communities where these businesses aren’t wanted.

The other major part of the proposed compromise would be allowing marijuana businesses in unincorporated areas that are within a mile and a half of cities and towns that plan to allow those businesses to operate, Hall said. But, he said, the county’s regulations in these particular unincorporated areas would need to match those established in the communities they surround.

Since this would require a change in the county zoning ordinance, Hall said, it would have to go through the Environment and Land Use Committee and the proper public hearing process before the Zoning Board of Appeals to give the public a say.

The article, available here, goes into the potential timeline and the relative slow speed of the application process on why there isn't any concern of a dispensary popping up in the mean time.

I still haven't heard any updates on a set date and details on the public event being planned by Parkland College Police on marijuana legal issues announced at the Champaign Community Coalition. When I get more information on that I'll be sure to share it.