Community Coalition Meeting and Walk as One Event

[UPDATE: Local coverage and video segments of yesterday's Walk as One event are available here from WCCU and two segments here from WCIA. The News-Gazette also had an article covering the walk here.]

Tomorrow Wednesday May 15th, the Champaign Community Coalition will be having a Walk as One event (WILL coverage) in the 'North End' to connect people with their neighbors and information. Here are two of the information cards for the event. The first one is for folks who want to volunteer and participate and the other is information for residents in the neighborhood (click to enlarge):

Last week's Community Coalition Meeting also announced a new location for future meetings. From the News-Gazette coverage:

Parsons also announced that this year's Walk as One event, which promotes peace and community resiliency, is set for 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 15 at Salem Baptist Church in Champaign. This will be a door-knocking initiative to hand out information to the north end neighborhood about the city's summer community programs and crisis-response efforts for gun violence.

And after three years at the library, the coalition will again move its meetings. The regular gatherings will now take place from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on the second Wednesday of every month at the Holiday Inn, 101 Trade Center Drive, C.

More at the full article here. The full article describes in detail plans towards community forums within 36 hours of a gun violence incident to connect the community affected with resources (a post on the first of these forums here). The aim is interrupt the cycle of trauma and violence. It's also to react almost as if to a natural disaster, to ensure the community has the tools and resources to deal with the fallout of these events.


More from the meeting...

Police Chief Updates: This week is Police Memorial Week and there will be an event for local departments at West Side Park at 11:15am on Friday May 17th.

Shooting incidents involving multiple shooters (with multiple types of bullet casings at scene) occurred in both Champaign and Urbana. The chiefs laid out their reports of shootings, including some with injuries and at least two homicides at the time of the meeting. Since the meeting a 14 year old was also killed: more on that in today's paper here. The campus police for Parkland and the University of Illinois are expecting things to slow down some as students leave in their areas. U of I police reminded folks of the Youth Leadership Camp coming up again.


The Champaign Park District had an announcement for their Summer Neighborhood Block Parties program with the latest dates and locations at the link.

Among the other program updates was an announcement that Urbana would be starting a pilot program modeled after the Unit 4 "Goal Getter" program. More information that from WCCU:

After seeing the success of Champaign's Goal Getters Program, community activists in Urbana decided to create a similar blueprint, for what they will be calling, The Urbana Youth High School Program.

The program will focus on students who have struggled socially and academically.

The program is expected to begin in June, which will include 16 sessions over the summer and will run through the school year as well.

Full blurb with video segment here. The project was pending final approval, although I'm not sure if that will be coming from the City of Urbana or the District 116 school board at this point (perhaps both?). More on the announcement to the Urbana City Council from the News-Gazette a week ago here.

There were some updates on the progress of the iRead/iCount program through the United Way. They're going to be looking for volunteers who can give an hour a week to help with basic reading skills, including improving letter recognition. More information available at this WCIA interview from January here. Flyer (click to enlarge):

Bend the Arc had a presentation on white nationalism locally, including active white nationalist groups in the area. They are going to have an event later this month on the subject. I'll post an update with that information when available.

Mothers Demand Action had information about their Wear Orange event working with Truce and the Champaign Park District next month: Saturday, June 8th 2-5pm Douglass Park at 512 E Grove St, Champaign, IL 61820.

The meeting ran low on time at the end and a couple of the hurried presenters were invited back to a future meeting:

• The Money Mentors program at the University of Illinois Extension
• Community Data: Mixed Methods for Community Centered Design which appeared to focus on how algorithms by various entities we interact with could be reinforcing previous problems (e.g. feedback loops of red lined neighborhoods causing discriminatory results in your Amazon purchases)

There was also information about the Leadership Development Academy's 4 week summer program (click to enlarge flyer):

There was more, including an overview of the "Embracing Your Past" event last month. A post on that will be coming up after a little more research.

Property Tax Rate Delays

[UPDATE: The mailing date has been changed already since yesterday's post. From the News-Gazette website today:

Champaign County property tax bills are going to be mailed even later than projected.

The new tentative tax date for tax bills to be mailed is May 28, eight days later than the last tentative date, according to county Treasurer Laurel Prussing.

The further delay is intended to give taxing districts enough time to review their extensions and rates and take up any issues with the county clerk's office...

The delay in tax bills means property owners will have longer before the first installment payments are due. If tax bills are mailed on May 28, the first installment will likely be due June 28, according to Prussing.

More at the full blurb here. No other updates for now.]

More property tax complications have popped up since an initial delay in setting the rates in Champaign County. Local governments depend on these figures and timelines to plan out their budgets. The News-Gazette had information on the original delay last month. Updates on more recent complications, especially with Urbana, below.

Champaign County tax bills coming 3 weeks late
County officials said they had been missing a piece of information from the state Department of Revenue that's necessary to complete their work on 2018 tax bills payable this year.

The tentative mailing date for tax bills is now May 20, according to the Champaign County clerk's office.

In most Illinois counties, tax bills mailed after May 1 are considered to be late.

County officials blamed the delay in tax bills on a delay by the state Department of Revenue in issuing a final county multiplier, which is needed for the calculations done by the county clerk's office on tax rates...

The first installment on property taxes will be due 30 days after the mailing date for the bills, with the second installment tentatively due on Sept. 3, county officials said.

The state Department of Revenue didn't respond to questions about whether it was behind on providing multipliers to counties. But Champaign County Supervisor of Assessments Paula Bates said she provided assessment information to the state on time in February.

More at the full article here. The News-Gazette had information on the tentative tax rates last week, but the numbers on the County website were taken down the next day (more on why below with the Urbana numbers):

The tentative 2018 rates for Rantoul residents continued to be highest in Champaign County, though they dropped this year from about $12 per $100 of assessed value to about $11 per $100 of assessed value.

Champaign property owners in the Unit 4 school district will be paying 2018 rates in the $9 per $100 range, about the same as last year.

The rate for the majority of Champaign taxpayers is tentatively set at $9.0457 per $100. Based on that rate, taxes on a $150,000 home (assessed at one-third its market value) will be $4,522 this year, about $4 more than last year, excluding any exemptions on the property that would lower the bill...

Elsewhere in Champaign County, rates for Allerton, Bondville, Broadlands, Fisher, Mahomet, Philo, Royal, Sadorus, St. Joseph and Tolono are all tentatively set in the $7 range per $100.

In Foosland, Gifford, Homer, Ivesdale, Longview and Ogden, rates are in the $8 range per $100, and joining Champaign in the $9 range are Ludlow and Thomasboro.

Savoy residents will tentatively be paying rates in the $7 or $8 range, depending on which township they're in and whether or not the MTD is included on their bills.

County officials have set a tentative date of May 20 for tax bills to hit the mail, with the first installment payment tentatively due June 20.

More at the full article here and an update on Urbana's numbers from an article the next day on Urbana's property tax situation:

The dispute over Urbana's tax rate is one reason County Executive Darlene Kloeppel asked the county clerk's office to remove tentative property-tax rates that were posted Wednesday from its website Thursday.

Kloeppel said tax-rate information shouldn't have been released to the public before taxing districts got a chance to review their rates and final rates were set...

Hannan said the county clerk's office incorrectly set Urbana's 2018 municipal tax rate — which is part of the overall rate Urbana residents will pay this year — at $1.5591 per $100 of assessed value.

The city had directed the county to set its tax rate lower than $1.3555 if any hospital properties were taxable for 2018, so the city's rate will be reduced to 1.3499, Hannan said...

Andy Rhodes, the county's IT director who is assisting with this year's tax work in the county clerk's office, said the tentative municipal rates for both Champaign and Urbana will be lowered when final rates are issued.

"The county clerk's office missed applying abatements to the city of Champaign and city of Urbana levies, and it generated an artificially high rate," he said.

That full article here. Related Cheat Sheet post on more issues with the City of Urbana property tax rate here.


[Updated: originally posted on 5/13/2019 at 9:26am]

County Cannabis Update

The Champaign County Circuit Clerk and and State's Attorney have both been in the news recently talking about their work and concerns with the possible legalization of recreational marijuana in Illinois. From the News-Gazette a couple weeks back:

Champaign circuit clerk among those working on potential issues with legal pot
Champaign County Circuit Clerk Katie Blakeman is working behind the scenes to prepare for what's coming when and if recreational cannabis for adults is legalized in Illinois...

Blakeman has been part of a working group convened by Deputy Governor Christian Mitchell and bill co-sponsors Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, and Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, that's been meeting for about three months.
The group is brainstorming how to deal with issues that will come up when legalized cannabis rolls out.
Those include equity and finance, public education and awareness, record expungement and criminal justice, home growing, licensing and market size, tax structure, and revenue allocation...

She said the sponsors of the bill to legalize recreational pot want a mechanism in place to allow people convicted of minor cannabis possession charges to shed that past without having to go through a lengthy, complicated petition process...

Blakeman said some legislators also assumed that Illinois State Police would have all records of cannabis convictions, but Blakeman noted that anyone not fingerprinted would not be in the state police records system. Someone arrested for a small amount of cannabis could very well have been given a notice to appear in court by police rather than being arrested and fingerprinted, so a record of their conviction would be found at the county circuit clerk level.

A lot more additional information at the full article here. There was also another Cheat Sheet post on challengers to Blakeman for the Circuit Clerk seat in 2020 here. The Champaign County State's Attorney interview with WCIA is available in a video segment and article here. Excerpt:

From a legal perspective in general, there are parts of the proposal Rietz says she doesn't have a problem with, but there are some issues she has with the expungement provision as it stands right now.

Generally, the expungement process has to be initiated by the person with the record. This proposal outlines an automatic expungement. Rietz says this means police would have to provide manpower and money to go through the records to decide who qualifies and to destroy those records.

"It seems like a significant allocation of resources for something I'm not really sure has a great benefit."

Expungement under this bill is not something she fully supports.

Rietz says, "I struggle with the concept that somebody who committed an offense and was convicted of that offense, without having to even request it, gets that offense stricken off their record."

Full article and link with video segment here. WILL had an article and radio interview on the same topic here. Excerpt:

“I personally don't have an issue with adults who can make decisions for themselves who want to use cannabis in their living rooms,” Rietz said. “I have concern about safety on our roadways, and I think that we are working with the legislature on addressing those issues as well.”

Rietz said there needs to be funding to train officers to detect impairments associated with cannabis use.

“The field sobriety tests that one does when there's a concern about alcohol use are different from the tests to detect cannabis use,” Rietz explained. “And there are only in the entire state of Illinois 50 police officers who are certified to do those tests. In Champaign County, we have one. So that's a safety issue and a funding issue that we need to address before we can move forward.”

Full article and audio interview here.

Circuit Clerk Candidates

Two Democratic Party challengers, Robert "Bob" Burkhalter and Susan McGrath, have announced their candidacy for County Circuit Clerk against the incumbent Republican, Katie Blakeman. From a couple recent News-Gazette articles. The first from the last week of April:

Champaign County courts employee announces candidacy for circuit clerk
...
Robert "Bob" Burkhalter, 44, of Champaign announced Wednesday his candidacy for the Democratic nomination to the office now held by Katie Blakeman.
Blakeman, a Republican, has been circuit clerk since 2012 and intends to run for re-election.

Burkhalter began his civil-service career as a clerk in the circuit clerk's office in 2007. Since 2011, he has served as a minute clerk to various Champaign County judges and currently is assigned to Judge Jeff Ford.

Full blurb available here. And from last week:

2nd Democrat joins race for Champaign County circuit clerk
An assistant state's attorney is the latest to announce her candidacy to be the Champaign County legal system's record-keeper.

Susan McGrath, 62, of Champaign said she plans to seek the Democratic Party's nod to be the candidate for circuit clerk, an office held by Republican Katie Blakeman since 2012. Blakeman intends to seek re-election...

McGrath has been active in the party for years, serving on the county board from 1978 to 1994; as a paid appointee to the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District board from 1997 to 2005; and a precinct committee person, election judge and volunteer in several Democratic candidate campaigns.

She has also served on the boards of the Champaign County Health Care Consumers, Girls Inc., East Central Illinois Elder Abuse Task Force, Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation and other groups.

More at the full article here. Burkhalter has a campaign website and facebook page up already. McGrath formally announced this morning.

Population and Ag Census Data Updates

Champaign County population is declining according to U.S. Census data, but not as fast as neighboring counties. From the News-Gazette in April:

Latest Census Bureau estimates show Illinois' populations in decline
For the first time this decade, Champaign County has fewer people than it did the year before. But the slight drop is nothing compared to the population plummets elsewhere in Illinois...

— Of Illinois' 102 counties, 82 suffered population drops. Among them: Champaign (down 0.1 percent — matching the decline for the C-U metro area); Ford (0.4); Piatt (0.4); Douglas (0.8); and Vermilion (1.2).

— With the real Census a year away, Champaign remains Illinois' 10th largest county. But losing 121 residents knocked it back below 210,000 (to 209,983) — still comfortably ahead of No. 11 Sangamon (195,348).

More data at the full article here. WCIA had additional coverage, including a video segment here. Excerpt:

Larger places which usually see an increase in population are losing people, including Champaign County. Census data shows it's mainly people between the ages of 25 - 54. Last year 86 counties saw a population loss. The year before it was 80 counties. This was the fitth year in a row Illinois saw significant population loss. Some places like Champaign County saw a decrease in poplulation when in years past there's been growth...

Other cities which saw decline included Decatur, Springfield, Rockford and Bloomington. No other city shrank faster than Danville. In fact, Danville is listed as the fourth fastest shrinking city in the entire country. 

The U.S. Census of Agriculture's data on Champaign County was also highlighted in the News-Gazette yesterday, specifically on consolidations and internet access.

Ag census finds area farmers are connecting, consolidating more
In 2007, 64 percent of Champaign County farmers had internet access. A decade later, that's up to 80 percent, though most don't have a cable that provides the internet.

About 48 percent of Champaign County farmers get their internet from mobile devices, and 26 percent get their internet from satellite...

As mobile and satellite access has increased, dial-up and DSL access has decreased.

About 16 percent of Champaign County farms still use DSL, while less than 10 of the county's 1,214 farms use dial-up...

The latest ag census also shows that farms are continuing to consolidate, with 16 percent fewer farms in Champaign County between 50 and 1,000 acres compared to 2012.

The total number of farms in the county declined from 1,312 to 1,214, even as the number of farms above a thousand acres increased by only one — from 193 to 194.

On the opposite end, the number of small farms increased in Champaign County, with the number of farms of less than 50 acres increasing from 385 in 2012 to 402 in 2017.

More data, including comparisons to other counties, at the full article here.

Update: The News-Gazette had additional census updates for area towns later in May here.

Local Autonomous Cars and Espionage

There were a couple technology stories related to the University of Illinois and some local and international ramifications. The University of Illinois is collaborating with Rantoul and others for an automated car test track on the old Chanute Air Base. From WCCU (including a video segment) earlier this month:

Rantoul may be the new face for autonomous driving with a new test track...

Say hello to the Illinois Automated and Connected Track (I-ACT) - a research facility in Rantoul that would conduct testing on self-driving vehicles.

"They would be able to bring these vehicles up to a speed of 75 mph and then test braking, distance, right lane activity and left lane activity," said Rantoul Mayor Charles Smith.

The Smart Transportation Infrastructure Initiative has been working on this project for about a year. The project is a result of a partnership with several Illinois universities, including Northwestern University, the University of Illinois- Chicago and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"Also, the Village of Rantoul will be donating that land to the university," Smith said.

More at the full article here. More information on the test track plans are available from Illinois Center on Transportation here. More information on the Smart Transportation Infrastructure Initiative (STII) here.

In more concerns about foreign intelligence threats (following up on a previous concern about Huawei at the Research Park), the University is ending its partnership with Huawei. From the Daily Illini Monday:

The University has decided to cancel further partnership with Huawei, one of the largest Chinese high-tech telecommunications equipment companies, which granted fundings and research awards for University faculties.

The decision was not publicly posted on University websites but only announced in an email sent to the College of Engineering faculty and staff...

Bill Bell, executive director of marketing and communications of Engineering, said the U.S. government has filed a criminal charge against Huawei and its leadership, so the University thinks it is time to reconsider the relationship with Huawei.

Bell said he is not sure if this is the first time the University canceled partnerships with a company because of criminal charge issues. He said long before the recent news of Huawei, the University had been careful when negotiating with companies and corporate partners to protect the institution, regardless of their headquarters location.

Huawei has been involved in lawsuits and disputes against the U.S. government for years. The U.S. government believes Huawei is a threat to national security.

More at the full article here. March Cheat Sheet post on the Huawei concerns at the U of I Research Park here: U of I Research Park and Spygames.

League of Women Voters: Observer Reports

The last League of Women Voters meeting was a series of their annual Observer Reports. The reports are available from Urbana Public Television's YouTube channel here:

Here's a list of links to the government entities covered and the LWV reports on them:

• Champaign Public Library Board of Trustees and LWV report
   
• Champaign Park District Board and LWV report
   
• Urbana City Council and LWV report
   
• Urbana Plan Commission and LWV report
   
• Urbana School Board and LWV report
   
• Regional Planning Commission and LWV report
   
• MTD and LWV report
   
• Urbana & Champaign Sanitary District and LWV report

A couple highlights for people looking for appointment opportunities. The Urbana Plan Commission had a recent vacancy, though I don't see it on the Urbana Mayor's list of open commission seats here. I don't know if that means it has already been filled or just isn't listed yet. Another position will be opening up on the Urbana & Champaign Sanitary District, including its very controversial pay schedule, in June. Those seats are appointed by the Champaign County Board with more information on that here.

For more information on the League of Women Voters of Champaign County, visit their website and check out their annual meeting coming up this Saturday, May 4, 9:00am - 1:00pm, St Matthews Lutheran Church on Philo Rd., Urbana.

Local Refugee Situation

Earlier this month, WCIA had a video segment that highlighted the potential increase of refugees to the area due to the Trump administration wanting to divert asylum seekers to "sanctuary cities" like Urbana. The term "sanctuary city" can mean different things depending on the legal situation of any particular city and even more dramatically from ideological points of view. USA Today attempted to give the subject a  fair overview here. The News-Gazette highlighted a local organization helping refugees settle in the Champaign County area today:

Newly renamed, relocated Refugee Center seeing increase in clients
...
The local organization providing services to immigrants and refugees in Champaign-Urbana, newly renamed The Refugee Center, has been serving growing numbers of people, according to Executive Director Lisa Wilson.

The growth is likely linked to immigrants already in Champaign County who are letting friends, family members and others in their native countries know they're feeling welcome where they've resettled, she said...

In the last 12-month period, from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018, The Refugee Center served 2,100 people in more than 540 families, Wilson said.

From July 1 to Dec. 31, 2018, the number of clients the center served had grown by 17 percent, she said.

The Refugee Center has seen a large influx in the community of immigrants from Guatemala, along with an increase in unaccompanied minors from several countries, Wilson said.

Founded nearly four decades ago, The Refugee Center provides refugees and immigrants help with translation, assistance pursuing citizenship, tutoring for children, connections to social services and assistance adjusting and resettling...

Most immigrants coming to Champaign County are settling in Champaign-Urbana, Rantoul and Savoy, she said. Many looking for affordable housing wind up living in mobile-home parks, she said.

More information at the full article here. More information about The Refugee Center from their about webpage:

The Refugee Center was created in 1980 by Vietnamese refugees as a way to help other newly arrived refugees acclimate to American culture and provide commonly needed services.  Since then, The Refugee Center has expanded its scope to assist all refugees, immigrants, and political asylees, regardless of country of origin.

Support for the Center comes from community members' contributions, Champaign County United Way, the Champaign County Mental Health Board, private grants and donors, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, and the Office of Refugee Resettlement...

The Refugee Center serves and advocates for all immigrants—regardless of their background or status—through translation and administrative services, education, and advocacy.

We open the door to new community members, help them get settled in Central Illinois, and encourage our community to understand and embrace its new members.

More at their website and facebook page.

New Phone Lockers for Courthouse

New lockers for phones and other items not allowed in the Champaign County Courthouse are coming soon to replace the old system and its associated security concerns.

New courthouse lockers to be installed in late May
New lockers for Champaign County Courthouse patrons to park their electronics should be operational in about a month.

Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman said lockers will be installed on the east side of the courthouse, in the parking lot under the same shelter where the kiosk to pay for parking is...

Heuerman said some people put more things in those lockers than phones, causing him security headaches, and frequently would forget the combination, necessitating rescue by his staff.

He and Dana Brenner, the county's facilities director, put their heads together to come up with an alternative that Heuerman said will be safer and cost-effective.

Brenner has ordered 24 lockers that will be installed next to the parking pay station. They will be approximately 8 inches by 7 inches and 8 inches deep. Users will install a quarter, load items into the locker, turn a key, lock the locker, then take the key with them inside the courthouse.

Full article with additional information here. Following up on a post earlier this month. Relevant Excerpt:

The News-Gazette and WCCU had coverage of the public locker issue last week. One major concern is that a lot of transportation is arranged through phone apps and communication for those who don't have access to a car. I've noticed a bit of a generational split on unsympathetic folks who grew up without relying on cell phones versus younger folks and advocates for the poor who point out that it's part of basic access to services now. The media coverage mainly focused on the nuts and bolts:

Doors to close on lobby lockers at sheriff's office
Concerns about the safety of the building have prompted the Champaign County sheriff to discontinue a storage-locker service in the lobby of his office at 204 E. Main St., U.

Sheriff Dustin Heuerman announced Friday that as of May 1, the 30 lockers will be removed.

"It's safety concerns," Chief Deputy Shannon Barrett said of the reason for discontinuing the public service. "They are not monitored. We don't know what's going into those lockers."
...
Barrett said Heuerman has looked into other options but hasn't found anything suitable.
"We have been trying to figure out what we can do different. It still comes down to the safety issue. No matter how small (a locker) is, a bomb could be put in there," she said. "He has done everything he can. It comes down to the safety of this building, especially having the jail below us."

Full article available here. In a short segment on WCCU, it was added, "They also said they are reaching out to community leaders and groups to find a solution."

Nursing Home Updates

Over the last couple weeks there have been some news items related to the recent sale of the Champaign County Nursing Home, but not directly about it. For example, one of the new owners has been in the news for two other area nursing homes he has purchased recently, including one he has also just closed. To be clear, the nursing home that's being closed is a different facility than the former Champaign County Nursing Home. From the News-Gazette earlier this month:

County nursing home buyer now controls two others in Champaign
One of the new owners of the former Champaign County Nursing Home in Urbana now also owns majority shares in two other nursing homes in Champaign.

William "Avi" Rothner and some members of the Rothner family now own most of the former Helia Healthcare of Champaign at 1915 S. Mattis Ave., C, and the former Heartland of Champaign at 309 E. Springfield Ave., C.

The former Heartland sold for nearly $1.4 million in December and was renamed Champaign Living Center the same month, according to county and state records.

The former Helia Healthcare was sold in May 2018 for $1.4 million. The state license transfer and new name, Champaign Rehab Center, became official April 1, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The sale, license transfer and new name for the former county nursing home, now called University Rehab Center, were also finalized April 1...

Rothner declined to talk about future plans for the two Champaign nursing homes Friday.

Full article with more information here. And from the News-Gazette a couple weeks ago:

4 months after buying Campustown nursing home, new owner set to close it
Less than four months after buying the former Heartland of Champaign nursing home in the Campustown area, the new owners have filed a notice of intent with the state to close the facility.

The 102-bed home at 309 E. Springfield Ave., C — renamed Champaign Living Center after it changed hands in December — was among three C-U nursing homes recently bought by members of the Rothner family...

Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said the state requires a 60-day notice in advance of closing a home, so the Champaign Living Center can't close before June 12.

The facility is working with residents and their families to place residents in new homes that meet their needs, she said.

As of last week, there were 45 residents in that home, according to Administrator Dawn Job.

That full article here. Empty beds has long been an issue raised with the financial state of the old County Nursing Home. Time will tell if this closing could lead to a better area situation in the long run, including for the old County Home. WILL had coverage of the State of Illinois' situation on Nursing Home closures and State funding cuts here. The News-Gazette had an AP overview of the federal situation which also includes the possibility of funding cuts in the future here.

As far as the County government's budget problems are concerned, the most recent April County Board meeting (video here when available) included a presentation of the five year forecast. Unfortunately the sale of the Nursing Home, especially with delays, still leaves the future a bit grim. A few relevant excerpts from the report (available here):

The County has limited control over the majority of its revenue sources, which poses a significant challenge for the County’s General Fund when the cost of services, commodities and personnel expenditures continue to rise.

Department Heads and Elected Officials have continuously been willing to defer capital needs and technology upgrades, restrain commodities and services spending, and use special revenue funds for personnel and transfers to alleviate pressure on the General Fund. There will be growing pressure on General Fund revenues to cover expenditures as the County focuses on increasing its investment in facilities and technology, while also experiencing cuts to revenue passed down from the State.

...

The Forecast does not included funding to replace the County’s financial system although this is an urgent need that can no longer be deferred and must be managed with currently available revenues. Upon issuance of an RFP, and receipt of responses, the County will have a better idea of the system cost. It is expected there will be limited Public Safety Sales Tax funds available beginning in FY2020 to partially fund the system. Unfortunately, there is a projected structural deficit within the General Fund. Unless new revenue sources are secured, it is essential the County restrict expenditure growth to the maximum extent possible within these funds in order to ensure it has adequate financial resources for its financial system and facility needs.

It is essential for the County Board to be cognizant of the debt it carries on the General Fund balance sheet for the $1.98 million Promissory Note and the $1 million loan to the Nursing Home.

Full forecast information packet here.

Election Turnout Analysis

Detailed election data from the Champaign County Voters Alliance showing precinct trends and more information from their latest meeting below (jump here). The News-Gazette had additional followup (see previous post here) from Tom Kacich's column Sunday comparing other counties and looking at election costs again:

Champaign County's puny 13.27 percent turnout for this month's local government election wasn't that much different than in other nearby counties.

Macon County, where there was a three-way race for mayor of Decatur, had a countywide turnout of 14.4 percent. Kankakee County's turnout was 12.8 percent. Madison County's was 11.8 percent. In McLean County, the turnout was 13.2 percent. Bloomington, which has a separate election commission, had a 9.37 percent turnout.

Danville, with a four-way race for mayor, had a 26 percent turnout, but the rest of Vermilion County was well below that.

Champaign County's was lower than comparable elections in recent years primarily because of the lack of a competitive mayoral race in Champaign. This year's election — led by incumbent Mayor Deb Feinen versus perennial candidate Azark Cobbs — drew just more than 7,000 voters in the city. That was far below the more than 12,000 who voted in a four-way race for mayor in 2015 (along with a school district tax increase referendum) and the 8,000-plus who voted in a two-way race between Don Gerard and Jerry Schweighart in 2011.

The low turnouts have raised anew concerns about the cost of these nonpartisan, consolidated elections. It's too early to calculate the cost of the election in Champaign County but it's worth noting that the county clerk's office has a budget of $130,000 just for election judges and workers. Divide that sum by the unofficial total of 17,014 who cast ballots and you have a cost of something like $7.60 per ballot cast.

More at the full article here. Cost concerns were raised previously in his Mailbag feature last week From the Cheat Sheet: C-U Local:

Tom Kacich touched on this past municipal election in last week's Mailbag and an article yesterday. The Mailbag questions had to do with the additional costs of expanding voting access under the new Clerk, which will be certain to be of interest to future candidates running for the seat:

The county operated eight remote early voting sites (in addition to the Brookens Center) in this election, the first one run by Democratic County Clerk Aaron Ammons. That's up from the six (plus Brookens) that were open in the 2015 consolidated election, run by Republican County Clerk Gordy Hulten.

There also were six days of remote site early voting this year, up from three days four years go.

Ammons estimated that the cost of providing early voting this spring was about $9,700, which includes salaries for election judges, facility fees, parking costs for judges on campus, fuel and staff costs to deliver election equipment and other assorted costs...

The cost of providing early voting in 2015 was estimated by Hulten at less than $5,000.

More at the full Qs and A here, including the County Clerk's view of the value of the expenditure.

It's hard not to see this as an early indicator that the next County Clerk race will have a vigorous debate on election budgets versus ensuring that money makes voting accessible to everyone that wishes to exercise the right. Low turnout elections will cost more per ballot, but there are probably few Democrats wanting to save money and rely on the assurances of Republican County Clerks that their constituencies will have reasonable access to the polls. From a previous Cheat Sheet post with one of the first changes by the new Democratic County Clerk:

One early success appears to be working with the University to have student voting in a larger and more accessible first floor area of the Illini Union in future elections (including the Pine Lounge for this election). The previous County Clerk had assured the County Board that better spaces were neither available nor necessary to accommodate student voters prior to the election which resulted in long lines down winding staircases. Whether the changes will be enough to prevent bottlenecks in 2020 remains to be seen.

The recent Champaign County Voter Alliance meeting (during this week's extra day of winter and snow) included a more detailed break down of voting trends by precinct (in the Appendix on page 4):

The purple cells are ones with higher ballots cast than 2019. The white cells are lower ballots cast than 2019. Orange precincts are campus ones. 

If I average ballots cast extending back to '03, then 12 more precincts qualify as having above average turnout (the teal colored ones below).

More details and information at the full meeting notes here, including what was discussed at the meeting itself with those able to make it.

No Superbug Cases in Area

If you've seen some of the headlines about a superbug in Illinois, it has been in the Chicago and St. Louis area so far, but no cases locally as of yet according to WCIA:

"There have been more than 150 cases of this superbug in northern Illinois.

No one has been diagnosed in central Illinois, but the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District is keeping an eye on the situation."

Full article with some basic information on the fungus and prevention here. WILL has a much more detailed explanation of the outbreak in a radio (audio only) interview with experts here. From the description:

You may have heard about a rare, but potentially life-threatening fungus that has infected more than 150 people in the state. In fact, while it is rare, Illinois has experienced the most cases in the country behind only New York. It’s called Candida auris, and what makes it so potentially deadly is that it’s often resistant to drug treatment. We should be clear that the majority of the state has not seen any cases of this happening. By far, most of the cases have been in and around Chicago. There have also been three reported cases in St. Louis.

We're joined by Dr. Ngozi Ezike. She is the new director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, and she explains what this fungus is and whether healthy people need to be concerned. Dr. Rachel Rubin is also with us from the Cook County Department of Public Health.

More at the program webpage here, including links to the audio.

County Roundup

There were a few news items related to County government this week:

• The results from the State's lottery on solar farm bids was announced. 
• A superbug fungus in Illinois hasn't been found in Champaign yet, but C-U Public Health Department is keeping an eye out for it.
• There were a couple news items following up on the Jail online bond fraud.

The News-Gazette had coverage of the solar farm lottery results and the local impact. In one article Thursday they had a overview of the winners and losers:

Five area solar-farm projects win renewable-energy credits from state
Only five area "community solar" projects were big winners in Wednesday's Illinois Power Agency lottery in Chicago, where about 10 percent of nearly 1,000 proposals snagged the renewable-energy credits made possible by the Future Energy Jobs Act.

In the larger-community category — mostly 2-megawatt projects that will generate electricity Illinoisans likely can buy through subscriptions — only one Champaign County project was chosen: a 2-megawatt farm proposed by Forefront Power near Sidney...

Not a part of the power agency's lottery were another 740 "large distributed generation" projects that were also awarded. These projects, which generally consist of smaller arrays at businesses or homes, do not connect directly to the power grid and offer subscriptions. Instead, Star said, they are designed to offset electricity use where they are located, like the one at Monticello Middle School — one of about 70 approved in Champaign and surrounding counties.

More at the full article here. The News-Gazette also highlighted one of the Urbana projects delayed by missing out on this year's lottery:

Urbana solar project on hold for at least a year after losing out on incentives
...
The project to bring a solar array to Urbana's old landfill site was not one of them, much to the disappointment of the city's environmental sustainability manager, Scott Tess...

In December, aldermen voted to strike a lease option agreement with San Jose, Calif.-based SunPower DevCo, which allowed them to apply to the incentives lottery. The two-year lease-option agreement — the first of three steps to realizing the solar-energy project — would give SunPower the exclusive right to develop solar arrays on 41 acres of Urbana's landfill property, managed by the Champaign-Urbana Solid Waste Disposal System.

Under the agreement, SunPower would have the exclusive right for two years to develop the property, as well as a lease renewal option in the event it can't secure incentives or funding in that time. But in order for them to start work on the array, they have to be secure in knowing who they'll sell the energy to.

Without the incentives, Tess said, it's not likely that the energy output generated by the array would be cheap enough to stave off competition from natural gas and other popular sources. The immediate next step for SunPower will be to apply for next year's incentives lottery.

More at that full article here.


WCIA had blurb and a video segment on local concerns with a superbug spreading nationally in medical facilities:

There have been more than 150 cases of this superbug in northern Illinois.

No one has been diagnosed in central Illinois, but the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District is keeping an eye on the situation.

Doctors say that's because more people have become resistant to treatment.

The fungus -- called Candida auris spreads quickly.

It affects people with weak immune systems, usually through contaminated surfaces or equipment...

Simple things like washing your hands after coming into contact with patients and cleaning surfaces can help stop the threat.

That article and video segment here.


There were also a couple recent followup stories on the issues with the County Jail's online bond payment system that was recently shut down due to fraudulent payments (more on that at a Cheat Sheet post here). From the News-Gazette website on Tuesday (and print edition Thursday):

An Arkansas man who showed up at his pretrial hearing Tuesday on weapons charges was arrested so he could post bond legitimately.

Edwin McCraney, 25, of West Memphis was one of about a dozen defendants for whom arrest warrants were issued last month after Champaign County Jail officials learned that their bond had been posted through an online service using stolen credit-card information.

In the wake of that discovery, Sheriff Dustin Heuerman suspended the use of GovPay.com on March 20.

Heuerman said at the time that there had been more than $25,000 in bail paid with the remote online option from suspected stolen credit-card information since the beginning of the year...

Assistant State’s Attorney Chris McCallum said the rightful credit-card holder lives in Pennsylvania and had no connection to McCraney.

Heuerman said he’s heard no complaints from anyone about the suspension of the GovPay service.

Credit cards may still be used to post bond, but they have to be presented in person at the jail by the poster. Cash and money orders are also acceptable forms of bond, he said.

More information at the article here. There was another article in today's paper along the same lines:

A Champaign man who was released from jail a month ago on bond that was paid with a stolen credit card is back in custody.

Jaime Varelas, 21, whose last known address was in the 1300 block of Williamsburg Drive, was returned to Urbana on Thursday after his arrest in Kankakee County on a warrant issued March 21...

He was jailed starting not long after the alleged incident until March 12, when someone posted $5,034 bond for him using the online service GovPay.com.

Within three days of his release, county jail administrators were notified that the bond had been posted with credit-card information that had been stolen...

Varelas' was among the highest bonds posted with the stolen credit-card information. Heuerman said the amounts ranged from as little as $184 to just over $5,000.

That full article here.