The McLean County Board passed a $137 million 2025 budget Thursday night, carrying over the spending proposal made in September that featured a slight reduction in both spending and taxation.
The vote was contested, with the budget and appropriations passing on a vote of 13-6. All votes against the measure were cast by Republican members — George Wendt, Chuck Erickson, Randall Knapp, Adam Reeves, Lyndsay Bloomfield, and Jim Soeldner.
On the specific issue of the adjusted property tax levy, the vote was an 11-8 for approval. Again, all votes in opposition were Republicans. The same group of GOP members were joined by Geoff Tompkins and William Friedrich on this vote.
County Administrator Cassy Taylor said the levy rate has been reduced by about 3.5% compared with fiscal year 2024. On actual tax bills, that decrease won’t be as dramatic because the rate is based on property value, and EAVs [equalized assessed values] of property in the county have been on the rise — most recently an 11% increase last year.
Taylor said the tax bill will look similar to many property owners, but will still decrease slightly.
County staff will undergo some changes with the new budget, Taylor said. Correctional staff will be added to provide mental health services for inmates, and additional IT staff in programming and security. On the subtraction side, the county’s pretrial service staff will be dissolved into other positions because the state is taking over as the provider of pretrial services.
The budget also includes a 4% bump in salaries and benefits for county employees, with officials hoping it will help retain and attract staff to hard-to-fill positions.
One of the most noticeable takeaways with lower spending of about 6.5% — along with the phase-out of American Rescue Plan Act [ARPA] funding — will be fewer infrastructure projects, Taylor said.
“ARPA came at the right time for us to take care of some aging infrastructure, and some projects that been let go a little too long,” she said. “That is a benefit of ARPA, but something we won’t see moving forward as much.”
Thursday also saw the board honor members who were attending their last meeting because six newly-elected representatives will take their places next month. Incoming Democrats will break the standing 10-10 party line tie, after securing a 12-8 majority in the election earlier this month.
The longest-serving Democrat, vice-chair Elizabeth Johnston, is presumed by many to be the next board chair. Johnston has confirmed she will seek the nomination.
Johnston commented on the night’s proceedings, saying it was odd to see votes against the budget when objections had not previously been raised — especially when Republicans were opposing a levy update that decreased the tax rate.
“That’s something that they’ve pushed for year after year, and here it is, and they still said no, so that was surprising to me,” Johnston said.
The new budget takes effect next month, along with the first meeting to include the board’s new members.
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