The chair of the McLean County Board said the recent awarding of $1.7 million in mental health and human service funding shows the potential of an intergovernmental agreement using shared sales tax money to improve the community.
During a Sound Ideas interview, Elizabeth Johnston said that’s what that agreement was meant to do.
"We are starting to see what was envisioned 10 years ago. And while I wish it had been years before, I'm glad that we're at this point now," said Johnston.
The accumulation of more than $20 million in the mental health and public safety fund sparked a dispute last year between Bloomington and Normal on one side and McLean County on the other. Talks to resolve those issues are ongoing.
Johnston hopes next year's grant awards from the fund will come faster than this year. They will still have the same goal — filling the holes in services available in the community.
She said the Behavioral Health Coordinating Council will offer quarterly opportunities to ask for money on a spot need basis.
"The need for emergent funds because of money that has been clawed back, or grants that might have been canceled which threaten the integrity of any kind of programs that might be currently existing and serving our population," said Johnston.
Next year, the county plans to put out requests for applications in the third quarter, she said, so nonprofit agencies can count on a full year of funding. This year, a change in the process meant the notice to apply didn't go out until January.
County Clerk
Republican McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael has been locked in a dispute over communication with Democrats on the county board executive committee about overspending her budget last year by more than $500,000.
After Michael no-showed the committee last week, the committee voted to apply some extra income generated in the clerk’s office to the overspent sum. All bills have been paid. The vote was part of end-of-fiscal-year accounting to prepare for the external audit.
Johnston said the vote also meant Michael’s office, over time, will have to reimburse the county general fund for the remaining $408,000.
“What we would like to do is to make sure that moving forward, the accountability and the expectation for following the process for procurement and process for adhering to budgetary policy continues to be enforced,” said Johnston.
Since Michael declined to appear before the committee and explain overages in non-contractual services, or to provide invoices, Johnston said the committee has asked the county administration to find the records and report back.
“What we're looking for is any kind of master agreement with the vendor to determine what was the process, and how did the office go about contracting for the services, or eliciting the services,” said Johnston.
At least one of those invoices used the word “contract” in reference to a three-year agreement for Poll Pad software to help run elections.
A county attorney will review whether it's a simple purchase, or an actual contract that should have been bid and reviewed by someone outside Michael’s office.
“When we have contracts, contractual agreements with money, they do come through the board," said Johnston. "We have our legal team, the civil state’s attorneys look over them to make sure that all the contract pieces are favorable, that they have appropriate exit clauses, and that the county in general is protected in the case of a dispute with the vendor.”
Johnston said if contractual services do not go through the board and regular oversight process, it could leave the county vulnerable.
The amount of the Poll Pad purchase from Governmental Business Systems was $287,205, according to a copy of the invoice.
“The procurement policy is that anything over $30,000 does need to come through the board,” said Johnston.
The county board also revised its budget process a year ago to require office holders to come to the board when they want to make an expenditure in a line item that does not have sufficient funds. Michael did not do that, said Johnston.
Michael's office has stayed within its budget, or used extra revenue to cover overspending, in only two of the last six fiscal years, according to Johnston, and has overspent the last four years straight.
Michael and her defenders have suggested the inquiry is politically motivated, now that Democrats have announced they will slate a candidate to oppose Michael in November.
“At the end of the day, this is public money that we are discussing. This is public money that we are accountable for. And these are questions that we ask of every department when they have overages or when they have contracts. It is part of our job as the board to make this information open and available for the public,” said Johnston.
