McLean County government is getting into the heart of its budget season.
The proposed $150 million spending plan would be up 4.1% from the current fiscal year — an increase of $5.9 million. County plans indicate rising property values will allow the property tax rate to go down and homeowners whose assessments do not change would see a modest decrease in the county share of their property tax bills.
“We have inflationary costs that are going up, but also being aware of the pinch that homeowners are feeling, that property tax owner, when they pay the property taxes, the pinch that it's creating. There's always this fine balance that we're trying to strike, county board chair Elizabeth Johnston said during a Sound Ideas interview.
Health insurance costs rose 22% this year, or about $2 million — spending that is largely outside the control of the county.
“This increase creates substantial financial pressure,” states a budget overview prepared for the county board. “Health care costs require the county to respond to changing market conditions while continuing to provide meaningful and competitive coverage for employees and their families.”
Nonunion employees would see a 1.5% pay increase.
Johnston said there will be some programs coming in for the Sheriff’s Department, $500,000 per year for the next decade for what Johnston termed “desperately needed equipment ... that will make the community safer.”
“One of the biggest things we're introducing, not just replacing but introducing, we are bringing body cams for all correctional officers into the jail. We do have cameras up, but they don't capture every angle, and we do understand that having eyes-on does create more safety within a facility like that,” said Johnston.
Capital spending
The $12.6 million capital improvement plan for next year includes a number of standard road maintenance and improvement projects. There is HVAC, ADA, electrical, plumbing, window and fire alarm work planned for several county facilities.
“A lot of the other ones we're looking at that I'm most excited about is that we continue with energy efficiencies from, you, know boilers to water heaters systems that will just continue to pay dividends, so to speak on saving energy usage in the future,” said Johnston.
The improvements include a third phase of window replacement at the Government Center, audio visual upgrades for the board room, and data re-cabling and sprinkler expansion at county offices at 200 W. Front St.
“Capital spending requires a consistent long-term approach rather than waiting until building systems fail or deferred maintenance becomes an emergency,” said the budget overview.
The proposed budget is scheduled for a vote at the county board's Nov. 12 meeting.
Behavioral health
Johnston said the mental health and public safety fund advisory council has signed off on $3.9 million in behavioral health spending in the community, funded by shared sales tax revenue from Bloomington and Normal.
The panel also approved $2 million in behavioral health spending within the justice system.
Johnston said there’s now a potential for multi-year grants because a new program may take more than a year to prove its worth. There also are administrative considerations.
“For organizations that run their calendar year different from the county’s, they could apply for grants and have it continued into the county's next fiscal year,” said Johnston.
Disaster relief
McLean County’s $42.5 million in recorded damages from the Aug. 13 storms is enough to meet the standard for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The county board on Thursday passed a continuation of its declaration of a local disaster connected to that severe weather event.
Johnston said damage continues to be tallied and some residents are still in cleanup mode.
“They've got a tarp up. They cannot find a construction company to come. They cannot find a roofing company to get to them," she said."As they're still going through that process of incurring bills, we want to continue that disaster declaration to make them eligible."
Gov. JB Pritzker has requested federal aid.
“We took the largest hit, $42.5 million … my understanding is the rest of the state in total was just shy of $90 million,” said Johnston.
There is no deadline for the federal government to determine whether it will open opportunities for fiscal assistance.
“My understanding is that Indiana did get their federal disaster declaration already issued,” said Johnston. “We have to wait and see if they will grant us that disaster declaration.”
