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, Committee and COW Meetings

Leading up to February's regular County Board meeting, there have been some moments worth highlighting in the other committee and Committee of the Whole meetings so far this month. A couple highlights include a massive rental assistance grant and funding due to pandemic hardships. The Champaign County Democratic party nominated Jenny Lokshin to be appointed to fill the District 6 vacancy. DeShawn Williams resigned from the seat to take a position within the County Treasurer's office.

Environment and Land Use Committee 2/4

For those just getting started, ELUC is a standing committee and often the starting point for policy issues that fall under the categories in its name. The County Board's rules lay out the responsibilities and structure of the various committees on pages 17-20:

This month's ELUC meeting (agenda, video) had part 2 of a 5 part presentation on Solid Waste Management in the County starting at roughly the 10 minute mark (slide presentation available here). Links for part 1 of the Solid Waste Management presentation are available at the bottom of a previous Cheat Sheet post here.

The committee also recommended approval of an authorization for an umpcoming Hazardous Waste Collection event. They discussed the location details at Marketplace Mall as opposed to Parkland, which agreed to do electronic recycling events, but not hazardous waste collection. Tom Kacich had more information on the event in his Mailbag column earlier this month:

An Illinois EPA-sponsored household hazardous waste collection event will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 10, at the Market Place Shopping Center.

Residents must pre-register for this event at hhwevent.simplybook.me by selecting from available time slots. Online registration will remain open until all the time slots are full.

Online registration will begin March 8, said Susan Monte, recycling coordinator for Champaign County.

Full mailbag article here. The committee also discussed the increased costs, due at least in part from the pandemic situation. A sale of a property was approved, but was left off the consent agenda to ensure other board members got a chance to hear about the details instead of being lumped in with other non-controversial items.

Committee of the Whole 2/9

The Committee of the Whole (agenda, video) began with a closed session, so there was a long portion of the meeting video with little to no activity until roughly the 1:16 h:m mark. There was no public participation, but Board member Jen Straub relayed an issue brought to her by a concerned citizen in Communications. She raised a concern that a County Board member was publicly quoting "Q Anon" conspiracies regarding the recent insurrection in Washington D.C. and making light of violence against women.

Democrats and Republicans expressed concerns about a lack of County Board input on redistricting maps expected after the Census, the need for public transparency, and a general agreement on maintaining 11 districts with 2 members each. More on the Census from a previous Cheat Sheet post on Regional Planning Commission discussions here. News-Gazette coverage from Tom Kacich here.

On a budget approval item for the Coroner's Office, member Fortado noted that it included payment for services rendered by contractor Shiping Bao. She noted a controversy about his past work involving the Trayvon Martin case in Florida. She argued his involvement was regrettable, but that the payment was still required and needed approval.

There was some discussion of the partitions to be installed at the Circuit Clerk's office, primarily for COVID related safety issues, but also for the benefit of employees who have had to endure an open concept call center and the noise issues that go along with that. The discussion included the reason vaccinations weren't available to staff, designated essential, but not frontline, and why the services required personnel at the courthouse location (access to court documents and in-person court services). There was also a little bit of a back on forth on possible savings on options with the materials to be used.

A Rental Assistance grant through the Regional Planning Commission for $6.2 million dollars was the biggest deal of the meeting. Board members welcomed the assistance for both tenants and landlords and encouraged people to get the word out on the program. Member Fortado praised the short turnaround time for getting the grant and into a functioning local program. From the RPC website:

The COVID-19 pandemic has made life difficult for people across the country, especially renters who have been unable to work, experienced reduced hours, or lost their jobs. Now through its new Emergency Rent Assistance program, the RPC is looking to help renters in Champaign County by providing funds to cover past-due rent and other past-due bills like power, water, and sewer.

Champaign County residents can start the screening process by contacting the Emergency Rent Assistance program call center at 877-548-4205 between 12-7pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Saturdays. In order to promote safety during the pandemic, the RPC’s offices (1776 E. Washington Street in Urbana) will be open by appointment only and those without appointments will directed back to the call center to schedule an appointment. Facemasks will be required.

Households prioritized for assistance include those with an individual who has received unemployment payments from the State of Illinois (IDES) for 90 days prior to applying, and those with an income at or below 50 percent of the area median. The RPC has set up a special page on its website at www.ccrpc.org/ERA with more details on eligibility requirements.

More information at that page here.

Another moment of strained relations with the County Executive arose over the "Employee Health Insurance & Related Benefits Broker Consultant Services" by both Republicans and Democrats for being left out of the process again. There did not appear to be any disagreement with the results, but that the County Board was cut out of the process. There was general consternation at the County Executive's excuse that relevant members hadn't been appointed yet, when it was the Executive herself who had not yet appointed them.

Justice & Social Services Committee Chair Leah Taylor noted that she will be raising Racial Justice Task Force recommendations and issues at the next Committee of the Whole meeting on March 9th. More on the Racial Justice Task Force on our page here.

Zoning Board of Appeals 2/11:

We usually don't cover ZBA meetings so much as they tend to be extremely technical and legal exercises. This month's meeting (agenda, video) involved a great deal of public interest and input on a cannabis growing facility proposed in the Philo area. There was a large file full of letters opposing the facility and the impact it might have on the community and families. There are also a lot of project details in the preliminary memo and supplementary memo in the meeting documents. 

The first 52 minutes of the meeting dealt with the approval of a separate grain elevator project that was approved with all of the various conditions that go with such a project. The rest of the meeting got into the board members and members of the public questioning the applicants for the special use approval in the agriculturally zoned district. The meeting had to be extended a couple times briefly and eventually continued to a future meeting after it ran well past the normally allotted time (roughly 3 hours and 20 minutes total).

Champaign County Updates

This week had a lot of updates in the news related to Champaign County government. This post has links and coverage including:

• More Republican duplicate ballot concerns with the County Clerk's office.
• Housing Authority highlights that minimum wage growth isn't keeping up with housing costs.
• NOAA Weather Radio outage additional information.
• Champaign County Drug Court being re-certified.
• An overview of the State's Attorney's courtroom duties and restitution process.
• Update on the upcoming make-up Hazardous Waste Disposal event. 

Vote-by-Mail Duplicate Ballot Concerns:

Republicans have seized on social media reports that voters have been receiving duplicate Vote-by-Mail ballots. In the discussion on the facebook group, Spotted in Chambana, and the County Party's facebook post here, they also highlighted the ongoing delay in posting the generic specimen ballot. That sample ballot has since made available on the Clerk's website here. The primary complaint was the potential for multiple votes with the ballots and potential costs to the county. From WCIA yesterday:

It is Illinois law for every jurisdiction to report their early voting totals to the State Board of Elections. It is so others can cross check and make sure no one is registered in two different counties.

According to the state, Champaign County and Alexander County are the only ones who have not been recorded. The practice is part of a 2005 law that has those records available online for state and local political committees. Former County Clerk Mark Shelden remembers the procedure when he was in the office. He says when they talk about security measures, he is not sure why they have not taken care of this one...

Shelden brought up the scenario that right now, someone who has voted in Champaign County can register in another county and they would not be able to tell they already filled out a ballot. County Clerk Aaron Ammons declined to comment on the response from Republicans and the lack of early voting records with the state.

Full article here. The Republicans posted images of the reporting system and an explanation of their concerns here on the County Party's facebook account. On the Spotted in Chambana thread, County Board Member Mike Ingram weighed in on the duplicate ballot issue:

As one of the people who allocates money to the clerk's office, you better believe we're pissed off about this. There's a glitch in this old clerk website that will send out as many ballots as are requested, not catching doubles. Meaning if you forgot that you'd already requested and requested another, you'd get both. Or if you hit refresh or thought the page didn't load, it'll generate another. We're paying for a very expensive new website for the clerk and I can't wait for it to be done because everything we find out about it now is a problem. It's been patched together on an old system for years. Seems like security all checks out, but there's quirks like this everywhere.

Either way, only one ballot gets counted. These are all coded uniquely to the voter, so if a second one came back from you it would throw up an alert. I've been very curious about stuff like this and that part of the system is good, thankfully. Apparently this is a thing that has happened a few times in the past.

That comment link here with a lot of Q & A replies. The question remains if the additional concerns the Republicans are raising now allow the potential for multiple votes by the same person in some situations including or regardless of the duplicate ballots. The concerns appear speculative at this point, but I'm still waiting to get more information.

Housing Authority on Affordable Housing Crisis:

The Housing Authority of Champaign County (HACC) was in the news this week pointing out that the modest increases in Illinois' minimum wage aren't enough to make up for the increasing costs of housing. WAND had a basic overview and video segment:

On Tuesday, the Housing Authority of Champaign County held a panel to discuss affordable housing.

One of the main topics discussed was affordable housing and the barriers being faced in Champaign. Even though construction costs for housing developments are remaining stagnant, housing prices themselves continue to be on the rise.

Right now, the average person makes about $10 per hour, and in order to live in most apartments in Champaign, a person should be making close to $16 per hour.

That full article here. A bit more from the News-Gazette:

And while [Sheila Dodd, manager of the city of Urbana’s grants management department, has] been glad to see Illinois’ gradual increase in minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, Dodd said, she fears the cost of housing will continue to rise along with it.

Those burdened by unaffordable rents face difficult budget decisions, such as paying for housing or food, and can they afford health care, said Chad Hoffman, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County...

While construction costs for new housing development are relatively stagnant, housing prices continue to rise and government regulations often unnecessarily inflate construction and housing rehab costs, according to the housing authority.

That full article here. The HACC had a brief description and photos on their facebook page here.

NOAA Weather Radio Outage Updates:

Today's web version of Tom's Mailbag has an additional item on the NOAA weather radio outage and the complications that led to it. The cabling for such a high power antenna appears to be one of the primary issues mentioned before, but it appears to go far beyond replacing the coaxial cable to your cable box:

"A year ago January during the high winds a section of the weather transmitter coax came loose. The copper from that coax became exposed and when it touched the tower it created a problem for DWS on full power. So quickly we got our tower crew up to patch up the coax and fix the broken standoffs that keep the coax from touching the live tower.  Unfortunately our fix while helping NOAA/NWS did not let us return to full power on a day in day out basis.

"So when severe weather season began I made the decision we’d limp through this situation until tornado season passed.

"We finally got an understanding with the NOAA contracts division that they had to be off the tower ahead of the 2020 severe weather season.  We found them a new site that the Lincoln office loved. Unfortunately the government played hardball on the contract terms with Sharad Tak, my former boss who owned WKIO from 1984 thru 2000. He still owns the tower site on Neil across from WCIA.

More at that full Mailbag article here. WCCU's recent update included a note about the timing involved:

Timing is everything because as we flip the calendar ahead another month, this 40-year-old technology needs to be up and running, ready for anything.

"Because we're entering a very critical time of the year with thunderstorm season approaching", Miller adds.

The National Weather Service says the NOAA Weather Radio Transmitter in Champaign covering East Central Illinois could be out of commission for the next six months.

That full article here.

Other Updates:

The News-Gazette had an article on the Champaign County Drug Court being certified by the State prior to Judge Ford's retirement here. It included some information on Ford's Successor:

Ford has already persuaded Presiding Judge Tom Difanis to have Judge Randy Rosenbaum be his successor in drug court.

It should be an easy transition for Rosenbaum, who has filled in as the drug court judge while Ford took care of medical issues.

Additionally, when Rosenbaum was Champaign County public defender prior to his 2016 appointment to the bench, he served as his office’s representative in drug court.

That full article here.

A couple recent Tom's Mailbag articles had information about the State's Attorney Office including on the Crime Victim Restitution process and the courtroom duties of our State's Attorney.

And finally there have been some updates on the Hazardous Waste disposal make-up event being run by the IEPA with the cooperation of local governments in Champaign County. The opportunity for those who signed up, but weren't able to participate due to delays at the last event have had their opportunity to sign up for this one first. Registration is now open to the general public. More information at the registration page here:

Another IEPA-sponsored one-day Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event in Champaign County will take place on Saturday, April 4, 2020 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Market Place Mall (click this map link for exact drop-off location; you must use the designated Entrance on the day of the event!)  It is open to all Illinois residents; however, residents must register for an appointment in order to attend.  To prevent the long wait times experienced during the Oct 2019 event, the hazardous waste contractor for the collection will provide additional drop-off lines, more staff, and fewer residents will be registered in each time slot.

Previous Cheat Sheet coverage on the event here. Local coverage from WCIA on open slots here and from WCCU here.

February County Board and Committee Meetings

The County Clerk's YouTube channel has the various County Board and committee meeting videos up for the month of February:

• Facilities Committee 2/4: Video, agenda packet and Cheat Sheet post here.
• Environmental and Land Use Committee 2/6: Video and agenda packet.
• County Board Committee of the Whole 2/11: Video, agenda packet and Cheat Sheet post here.
• Regular County Board Meeting 2/20: Video and agenda packet.

There's also a video of one of the County Board of Review meetings (video here, agenda here) for anyone interested in seeing that board in action, though for an unusual circumstance. In this meeting they're looking at the charitable organization exemption for local hospitals in light of a recent ruling (more on that at this recent Cheat Sheet post here). The Board of Review's normal duties are explained on their web page here. Excerpt:

The Board of Review reviews property tax assessments in the County.  Three (3) members are appointed by the County Board after passing an exam administered by the State of Illinois.  The Board of Review meets each June to select a Chair and Secretary and to formulate and publish rules and regulations for that year's session...

Other duties of the Board of Review include the following:  intra-County equalization of property values, representing the County in all State of Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board proceedings, adding omitted properties to the tax rolls, acting on exemption requests and performing sales ratio studies.

More information, including more meeting documents here. I don't entirely understand the Board of Review yet, so that'll almost certainly be a future Cheat Sheet post. I'm especially curious where more current minutes are kept and if they're more detailed than older ones I've found, like this annual one from 2015.

There was an earlier Cheat Sheet post on the February Committee of the Whole meeting here.

The February 20th regular County Board meeting was a culmination of earlier work and discussions in the Environment and Land Use Committee on Solar farm regulations changes. Two versions of the revised regulations similarly addressed concerns about timing and the ability of localities to have sufficient notification and ability to respond to possible solar farm projects near their communities. They differed on how far outside their municipal borders and into unincorporated County jurisdiction that the balance of County versus local concerns was weighed in the process.

In both the ELUC committee and the regular County Board meeting, the issue came down to a 1.5 mile versus a half mile where the nearby municipality had greater influence on weather the solar farm would be placed there. Municipal concerns included future expansion and growth, which over the 20+ years of some solar farms could be highly unpredictable. The Mayor of St. Joseph attended both meetings (she had a five minute overview in the regular meeting here, but she spoke at length to the ELUC here) and explained those concerns in detail. There were also letters and input by proxy by other towns and villages in the County.

Another concern raised by some Democrats on the board was representation, since the unincorporated areas can't vote for the representatives in those nearby municipalities, the County has a role in representing and prioritizing their interests. Some of the nuance included whether a municipality had a Continuous Urban Growth Area (CUGA) that would give additional consideration to planned future growth. There's a wonky explanation here. Excerpt:

CUGA represents areas with multiple planning jurisdictions that are destined for urban type land uses. Area inclusion within a CUGA is largely dependent on physical feasibility and established planning for expanding sanitary sewer service. CUGA is defined as unincorporated land within the County that meets one of the following criteria:

• Land designated for urban land use on the future land use map of an adopted municipal comprehensive land use plan, intergovernmental plan or special area plan, and located within the service area of a public sanitary sewer system with existing sewer service or sewer service planned to be available in the near- to mid-term (over a period of the next five years or so).
• Land to be annexed by a municipality and located within the service area of a public sanitary sewer system with existing sewer service or sewer service planned to be available in the near- to mid-term (over a period of the next five years or so); or
• Land surrounded by incorporated land or other urban land within the County

The nuance gets even more complicated since we're mainly talking about the default process for solar farm approval. Exemptions can still be made by the County Board, but these bills differed in what distances and situations exemptions would be made versus a more straightforward approval process.

Localities would still have the ability to protest and make their case against developments they don't want, but depending on the distance they'd essentially have more leverage closer to their borders than other areas.

In the end the Democrats passed the version that weighed the County's interest more up to the half-mile of the municipality. Republicans, Chairman Giraldo Rosales and Connie Dillard-Myers appeared to join the Republicans in wanting to weigh the municipal interests more out to 1.5 miles out.


Other Issues:

The jail consolidation plans were discussed at length in the Facilities committee meeting (at the 11 minute mark in the video). For activists concerned about consolidation plans and what the hurdles and pressures specifically are, the full discussion is nearly an hour long, but addresses a lot of critical questions and issues.

The meeting documents included a letter from the Sheriff explaining some of his response to potential reform impacts on future jail populations raised by criminal justice reform activists including State Representative Carol Ammons (Cheat Sheet post including video link for recent panel event here). That full letter is here. While backing reforms in future possible legislation, he highlights the urgency of the current situation under current law, especially in the downtown jail:

At the regular County Board meeting the public participation also included advocates for criminal justice reforms to avoid adding overall bed space to the satellite jail that could create systemic and budget pressures to fill.

A concern raised by Member Goss at the COW about the County Clerk's polling place location in his district was answered and explained it appeared to everyone's satisfaction to avoid another move and the costs of reissuing new registration ID cards.

Towards the end in New Business, Member Fortado uged expediting the selection of a replacement Treasurer. There appears to have been an expectation by some for a decision sooner rather than later. She expressed disappointment it hadn't been brought to resolution at this meeting. (the YouTube video is cut off, but the streaming buffer link still has it at the 1:42:33 mark here).

The meeting ended in closed session to discuss litigation issues, which I believe was related to the property tax ruling given the news that emerged from the Board of Review afterward in support of an appeal decision. More on that here. One issue that was raised before the Board went into closed session was the timing on the agenda. It had apparently been placed at the beginning of the meeting as lawyers were waiting and possibly billing waiting for it at the end. I couldn't tell if that was just a possible concern or a definite cost issue at the time. The discussion happened at the 1:44 mark on the video (cut off on the YouTube channel, but still available on the streaming buffer here).

Jail Updates

Jail consolidation was discussed at this week's County Facilities Committee meeting (jail consolidation discussion begins at the 11 minute mark). Video of the meeting is temporarily available in the buffer on the County's live streaming page, available on the County Clerk's YouTube channel when posted here. The agenda packet here includes a letter from the County Sheriff starting on page 5 of the packet (page 6 of the PDF file) that explains the current situation of the jails and needs. He explains the situation and needs in relation to desired criminal justice reforms that could further reduce the jail population.

The full letter is worth the read, but below are a couple excerpts starting with a brief assessment:

He also gave a brief overview of potential options being considered, or at least likely to be considered by the County Board:

Full letter available here (page 5 of the packet, page 6 of the PDF file). The Sheriff discussed the letter and explained that this list wasn't all inclusive and more thoughts at the 21 minute mark of the video.

A worthwhile highlight was at the 31 minute mark with a question by County Board Member Dr. Charles Young on comparing to other counties and jail facilities. The Sheriff wasn't able to point to a perfectly similar situation, but he did go over several other scenarios faced elsewhere. He also pointed out that if the worst case scenario forced them to close the downtown jail immediately, what the hurdles would be in finding space for inmates in surrounding areas such as Piatt County. The very next question and answer continued to helped explain some of the logistical situations with keeping inmates with special needs separated and safe.

At the 55 minute mark the chairman and members of the committee clarified where they ended: approving (by a general sense of the committee) getting more information on a compromise plan similar to the Sheriff's #2 option in his letter, but with more flexible housing to offset logistical concerns. It would still have even fewer beds than the full Reifstack study. The goal being to get a solid plan for the board to approve by this summer (possibly as early as June) to move forward. Then there would be a further need for a referendum for the public to approve it.

The next Facilities meeting will be March 3rd.


Background Information:

Below is a little background that could help constituents understand where everyone is coming from in this meeting. The discussion revolved around a jail consolidation study that was recently updated and discussed by the full County Board in October. From a previous Cheat Sheet post:

The Board didn't vote to approve any jail plan at this meeting, the agenda item being changed to "discussion only" on an the addendum. WILL had a nice overview of the Jail issue that night:

An updated proposal for county jail consolidation was brought before the full Champaign County Board for the first time Thursday night. Now county board members must decide how to deal with both a pressing need --- and a daunting price tag.

The plan, from Reifsteck Reid, the firm of Champaign architect Charles Reifsteck, is an update of a previous plan presented to the county board in 2015. As outlined by Reifsteck at Thursday night’s meeting, the plan calls for closing the rundown jail and sheriff’s office built in the 1980’s in downtown Urbana. The 1990’s satellite jail in east Urbana would renovated and expanded to replace the downtown jail’s capacity and the sheriff’s offices. In addition, its design would allow flexibility in separating inmate populations and providing space for inmate visitations and programs.

County board members are trying to come to grips with its cost: $47 million (compared to $32 million for the 2015 jail plan) to close the rundown jail and sheriff’s office in downtown Urbana, and enlarge and modernize the newer satellite jail. The rebuilt jail’s capacity would be 283 inmates, twelve less than the two present jails.

Full article here with some brief perspectives and takes. A more detailed presentation of the plan is available at this Cheat Sheet post.

The full Cheat Sheet post on that October County Board meeting is available here.

Health Updates and Data

[UPDATE x2: Coverage from yesterday's forum with local health officials on preparations and proactive steps being taken in regards to the Wuhan coronavirus and the need to be vigilant about the flu season in general. From Illinois Newsroom:

Health officials in Champaign County say they are ready, if any cases of the novel coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China should turn up locally. But they say no cases have shown up so far.

As of Tuesday, five cases of the coronavirus have been reported in the United States, with one reported in Chicago. In Champaign County, officials with the University of Illinois’ McKinley Health Center say they determined that one person showing possible coronavirus symptoms did not have the illness. The vast majority of reported cases are in China, with the World Health Organization reporting more than 4,593 cases as of Tuesday morning, including more than 100 deaths.

At a news conference at the U of I, McKinley Health Center director Robert Parker says he emailed each of the 146 students who came to the Urbana campus from Wuhan, with information related to the virus. He says several wrote back to say they had not traveled to Wuhan during the university’s winter break that ended last week, which means they are not at risk of bringing the virus with them. And for those who had traveled to Wuhan, Parker said several said they had decided to “self-quarantine” themselves.

Full article here. Illinois Newsroom has been adding updates at their information post here. WAND had an overview of the forum here with a video segment. There was additional coverage in the News-Gazette this morning here.]

[UPDATE: Another update on the local coronavirus response since I posted this earlier this morning from Illinois Newsroom:

[Tuesday, January 28th], health officials in Champaign will discuss their response to the coronavirus at a forum on the University of Illinois campus. The forum will take place at 9:00 a.m. at the Fire Service Institute at 11 Gerty Drive. Champaign Urbana Public Health administrator Julie Pryde will answer questions. She’ll be joined by Robert Parker, the director of the U-of-I’s McKinley Health Center and Janet Jokela, the acting dean of the University of Illinois’ College of Medicine.]

First, the latest updates on the Wuhan coronavirus. The CDC's risk assessment has been updated to describe an important exception to the overall low risk to Americans in general:

The risk to individuals is dependent on exposure. At this time, some people will have an increased risk of infection, for example healthcare workers caring for 2019-nCoV patients and other close contacts. For the general American public, who are unlikely to be exposed to this virus, the immediate health risk from 2019-nCoV is considered low.

More at the CDC website here. The Daily Illini had an update on campus precautions yesterday:

After coronavirus spread to the United States, McKinley Health Center has been taking precautionary measures to make sure everyone on campus is healthy.

According to a Massmail sent around noon Monday, there have been five confirmed cases of coronavirus in four states, including one in Illinois.

Since then, one University student has shown possible symptoms, but it was determined to not have been coronavirus...
On Friday, McKinley started contacting students with a known connection to Wuhan City, China, where the virus first started. Some students who traveled home to Wuhan City have chosen to self-quarantine, monitor themselves or wear a surgical mask.

More at that full article here. The News-Gazette's eEdition had an update this morning noting the increased sales of face masks and other precautions given our international community:

“We know there are no symptomatic individuals right now in this community,” he said. The UI contacted students with a known connection to Wuhan City on Jan. 24, according to UI McKinley Health Center Director Dr. Robert Parker. All students coming to the health center with respiratory symptoms are being masked at the door and told about how to keep themselves healthy, he said in an updated email to the campus community Monday.

More at that article on A1 of the eEdition here (subscription). Previous updates on local reactions to the Wuhan coronavirus risk are available on the C-U Local Cheat Sheet here.


In other local government health news:

Our local health district administrator received an appointment from the governor. From the News-Gazette earlier this month:

Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Administrator Julie Pryde has been appointed to a three-year term on the Illinois State Board of Health.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced seven appointees to the board on Monday, pending confirmation by the Illinois Senate.

Full article here.

The C-UPHD also announced that they're gearing up for the latest local health assessment (the 2017-2020 assessment is available here with a treasure trove of data) with additional grant funding. From the News-Gazette a few weeks ago:

The newly awarded $10,000 federal grant is aimed at a more meaningful inclusion of the needs of people with disabilities in the next three-year community health needs assessment, according to the public health district Administrator JULIE PRYDE.

Historically, people with disabilities are under-represented in planning processes such as these, Pryde said...

The health district works with the Carle Health System and OSF HealthCare on a community-wide health needs assessment every three years.

That full article here. There was also an overview of the assessment and an interview with Pryde in Smile Politely last week:

When we first started collecting this data about 20 years ago, it was part of a requirement for the Health Department, and it was just sort of a joke.

It was just 10 people sitting around a table putting 10 things on paper and then putting the report on a shelf and do nothing with it. However, every year we try to do better with how we do it. We use a process called MAPP (Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships).

This year (as they prepare the 2021-2023 report), we are doing even more. We are going to start this month. And if you are interested in being on that group, we would love it. We try to get a huge array of people involved. Media is important. People don’t realize it, but the media is very important.

Full article here. The 2017-2020 assessment is available here and has a lot of data looking at different impacts to different neighborhoods, demographics, racial disparities, etc. The introduction explains the structure of the assessment and how it's put together:

The Champaign County Community Health Plan provides a current portrait of the health assets and needs of the residents of Champaign County. Illinois state law requires every local health department to participate in this process, called the Illinois Project for Local Assessment of Needs (IPLAN). This process must be conducted at minimum every five years. The detailed assessment and plan provides the foundation for evidence based health planning and decision-making.

The essential elements of IPLAN are:
1. An organizational capacity assessment;
2. A community health needs assessment; and
3. A community health plan, focusing on a minimum of three priority health problems. 

The Champaign County Community Health Plan was created using a model called Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP). This collaborative approach to community health planning was developed by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) in cooperation with the Public Health Practice Program Office and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). MAPP helps communities form effective partnerships that can better identify their unique circumstances and needs and use their resources wisely.

Full assessment here. The C-UPHD's facebook page also highlighted the issue of redlining and the legacy that housing discrimination continues to have on health incomes in this article from Shelterforce. For more on segregation in the Champaign-Urbana area, check out this C-U Local Cheat Sheet post: C-U Segregation.


[This post has been updated. Originally posted at 8:11am on 1/28/20.]

Criminal Justice Reform Panel

There was a Criminal Justice Reform panel discussion at the Champaign City Building earlier this week. On the panel: State Representative Carol Ammons, County Board Member Mike Ingram, Cunningham Township Supervisor Danielle Chynoweth, Dr. Thomas Moore of the NAACP, and First Followers reentry program had director Marlon Mitchell and member Marcell McNutt. Tatianna Ammons, candidate for County Board district 11, chaired the panel.

Full video of the panel is available here on Carol Ammons' facebook page. She included a link to her website that had additional criminal justice reform materials here. Those materials included open letters from various organizations to Sheriff Heuerman. The Sheriff explained why he didn't attend the event in a WCCU article this week:

He said he originally planned to go until he saw derogatory Facebook comments made on the event's page about the proposed jail relocation from downtown Urbana to the satellite jail at 502 S. Lierman Avenue.

"It was pretty evident that whenever I started seeing some of those comments that there was not going to be an open-minded conversation last night and I would rather have a conversation in the public that has diverse views on both sides," Heuerman said.

The Sheriff's role came into the question about how much control he has over reform in the county jail...

Heuerman said he's still open to discussing pretrial and criminal justice reform with leaders and the rest of the community.

He would like to see the state's attorney and county judges involved as well.

That full article here. The event's discussion section currently appears empty and closed. Other coverage of the panel are available at WCCU here and WAND here, both with short video segments. The WCCU article highlights the media framing of the jail issue recently discussed at the County Board's Facilities Committee as inaccurate:

It was a packed house Thursday night in the city council chamber for its criminal justice reform meeting.

After Thursday's discussion, most agreed instead of spending more money on a jail, more resources should be spent on the people inside them.

Right now, there's a $47 million proposal to relocate the county jail from Urbana to the satellite jail at 502 S. Lierman Avenue in Champaign.

The Champaign County Board endorses the proposal due to the deteriorating status of the current jail.

That full article here. More on the recent Facilities meeting where this framing in the media is viewed as inaccurate and in need of correcting at this previous Cheat Sheet post. The study where the $47 million dollar figure comes from was of the most comprehensive option in a recent study on jail consolidation options. I have a Cheat Sheet post on that study here with my initial impressions. I can't say if my wording would pass the board's muster either.

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.

County Board and Jail Followup

I had some updated information and links from the November County Board meeting (agenda here) and some additional coverage of possible jail consolidation issue at that meeting and in additional Daily Illini coverage. The full video of November's regular County Board meeting was posted earlier last week (previous County Board updates and coverage here). Some highlights from the video include:

• A drainage district commissioner explaining continuing ramifications of the local property tax delays at roughly the 15 minute mark
   
• County Treasurer Laurel Prussing proposing equalizing a part of the tax code to prevent higher fees on the lowest incomes at around the 18 minute mark.
   
• Carol Ammons' presentation on criminal justice reforms (at the 21 minute mark) to avoid the need for jail expansion and provide better outcomes for the community. In the presentation she cites the Champaign County Criminal Justice Assessment: Final Report from September 2014 by the Institute for Law and Policy Planning. It, as well as many other local criminal justice reports are available here from the Champaign County League of Women Voters website.
   
• The debate on marijuana zoning regulations (at the 59 minute mark) in unincorporated parts of the County ended in a suggestion for compromise and sending the issue back to the Environment and Land Use Committee towards proposing a compromise plan. The suggestion is that it would address concerns about dispensaries in smaller communities that oppose them without blocking other types of production and business that could benefit them.
   
• and debate on the County employee rules on cannabis (at the 1:50 mark) which also ended with a compromise proposal with a sunset provision to hash out the policy further in the first half of 2020.

Both compromises were proposed and pushed by Pranjal Vachaspati who also announced his resignation at the end of the meeting. He has new employment out of Boston and will be moving there.

The Daily Illini also had coverage on the problems facing the Champaign County jails this week. From their reporting:

County officials are bringing more attention to the failing and out-of-date conditions of Champaign County’s jails. The downtown jail’s old construction has led to severe deterioration: electronic locks to doors opening seemingly randomly, leaks from the roof, cockroach infestations and a lack of recreational space.

Leah Taylor, member of the Facilities Committee on the county board, said she visited the downtown facility two months ago.

“It’s honestly something out of a horror movie,” Taylor said.

There are two jails in Champaign County: the downtown facility, which opened in 1980, and the Satellite Jail, which is located in Urbana and opened in the mid 1990s, according to county Sheriff Dustin Heuerman.

The downtown facility building is facing more damage, but both are said to lack in rehabilitative programs and recreational spaces that allow inmates to exercise and de-stress with activities.

More at their full coverage here. 

Organization News and Updates

In addition to today's County government related roundup, there were also a lot of County organizations and businesses with County related news and updates from blood donations, to the Youth Assessment Center, Women Build home maintenance training, and agricultural worker mental health courses and sewer system investments. The News-Gazette had coverage a couple weeks ago on a local organization trying to increase blood donations from the younger crowd: 

Community Blood Services teaming with e-sports group to get more millennial donors
A regional blood service hopes to recruit more millennial donors by linking the act of donating blood with something near and dear to many of their hearts — video gaming.

Community Blood Services of Illinois has announced a new partnership with the professional e-sports organization Team Liquid, and will be offering blood drives at video gaming events and incentives for millennials to become blood donors.

The blood service, which operates one of its centers in Urbana, currently draws most of its donors from adults ages 40 and up, and it's also fairly successful at blood drives geared to high school students, according to spokesman Kirby Winn.

But fewer than 20 percent of blood donations come from the millennials ages 20-34, and younger men donate blood at an even lower rate, he said.

Full article with more information here.

The Youth Assessment Center's relationship with the Urbana School District #116 has been formalized. From the News-Gazette earlier this month:

After a school board vote this week on an operations agreement, that could be the status of the partnership between the Urbana school district and Champaign County Youth Assessment Center.

Although the center has long offered its services to those in the district, the agreement formalizes the two groups' relationship and establishes responsibilities on both sides. Establishing that formality has been a goal for Jonathan Westfield since he assumed the center's directorship two years ago.

The operations agreement, if approved, sends case managers into the schools, streamlining communication between individuals served and school officials and easing the burden of families who otherwise would have had to find a way to the center's Champaign location.

That full article here. A link to the latest Urbana School District news will be coming soon here.

Champaign County Habitat for Humanity is offering a Women Build clinic for basic interior home maintenance. Smile Politely had a blurb with links and an overview here:

Habitat's Women Build is a national intiative that gives women an opportunity to learn construction skills and work on home building projects. Locally, Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County hosts clinics on a semi-regular basis that focus on these skills.

On July 13th, they are hosting an Interior Home Maintenance clinic from 9 a.m. to noon at the Habitat for Humanity warehouse, 302 N. Broadway in Urbana.

You will need to register here to reserve your spot. It's $20, and includes a t-shirt and snacks.

Full blurb here.

Carle is offering a mental health course geared towards those working in the agricultural industry and the specific stresses that go along with it. From the News-Gazette today:

An all-day Mental Health First Aid course will be offered in Champaign next month for adults working in the agricultural industry.

The course is intended to help farmers, their families, friends and business associates recognize signs of substance abuse and mental health issues, such as depression and panic attacks, and help remove the stigma from seeking help.

Mental Health First Aid is a program of the National Council of Behavioral Health that has reached more than 1.5 million people in the United States.

The eight-hour class coming up next month at the Champaign County Farm Bureau is being offered through the Carle health system. 

More details and information at the full article here. Mental health and farming was also a topic in the last Farming Updates post on the Cheat Sheet.

And finally, Illinois American Water is going to be investing in sewer upgrades here in Champaign County. From WCIA today:

Illinois American Water is investing more than $12 million to enhance water service to customers in the area.

The work kicks off this summer and includes improvements to the water treatment system and installing over 16,200 feet of water main in Champaign, Urbana and Sadorus.

A bulk of the main replacement work is related to relocating water mains along Wright Street and Armory Street in Champaign as a part of the city’s street reconstruction project.

Full blurb here with a link to additional information on the improvements from Illinois American Water here.

Willard Airport Updates

Here's a roundup of government news items on Willard Airport over the last month. First off, last month, the airport was able to secure a federal grant for runway improvements:

Federal grant will fund Willard runway upgrade
University of Illinois Willard Airport hopes to begin work on a runway improvement project next year with the help of a $9.9 million federal grant.

The grant was announced Friday by U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

The money will be used to reconstruct one of the three runways at Willard.

New pavement, underground wiring and a lighting upgrade will be done on one of the airport's two commercial runways, said Willard Interim Executive Director Tim Bannon.

Full blurb here. WCIA had some additional information in their blurb here.

In the past week there were a couple other updates on Willard. An update on the hiring of a new executive director was in the Just Askin' column in yesterday's News-Gazette:

It should be soon, UI spokeswoman Robin Kaler said.

"Candidates have been interviewed, so we are hopeful to wrap up the search within the next couple of weeks," she said in an email.

The previous executive director, Gene Cossey, left in February to begin a similar job at an airport in northeastern Tennessee...

Since he left, the assistant director of operations since February 2018, Tim Bannon, has been serving as the interim executive director.

Full blurb here. Smile Politely also pointed out that the airport's Master Plan update will be taking public input soon as well. More information will be uploaded to the CMI Master Plan website on that soon. Excerpt:

This Master Plan will define modern design efficiencies to reduce normal day to day costs for the Airport and its users.  The update will also consider additional options to provide passenger amenities and help create new revenue possibilities for Willard.

You can participate in this process by offering your input on plans as they develop. As parts of the plan become available to the public, they will be posted here, and you can find out how to add your comments here — something that may be worth your time if are a frequent traveler through CMI. 

That blurb here. CMI Master Plan website here.