Published: August 26, 2008 09:21 am      

Voters to decide on public safety tax

By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — County Board members expressed mixed opinions on whether the county needs to reinstate a 1/4 percent public safety tax, but will leave it up to the voters to decide in November.

“I don’t see where I can go to my constituents and say give me 1/4 percent more of your money when we don’t know if we’ll need it or what we’ll spend it on,” board member Jim Nelson said. “But I will vote for it to go on the ballot. I’m opposed to it, but I will vote to put it on the ballot just to give residents of the county a say.”

Also voicing opposition to putting a question on the November ballot were board members Dexter Edmison, Jim Laird and Pat Garrett, who said although he is personally against the issue, would abstain from voting due to also serving on the Mt. Vernon Township High School Board which is investigating a sales tax issue for the April ballot. During the final vote, board chairman Ted Buck also abstained.

Garrett officially withdrew his proposal to use public safety tax funds to start a tuition/scholarship funds for workforce development at Rend Lake College, explaining he has been unable to find a legal means to allow the county to enter into an agreement with the college for the use of the funds. Garrett then said that he disagreed with reinstating the tax unless the board could explain to voters why the tax was needed.

“Everyone voted three years ago on a tax with a specific purpose and we’ve voted that we no longer need it,” he said. “I have yet to hear a specific plan on how to spend the funds or how long. ... Sales taxes are a regressive tax, not a fair tax and fall most cruelly on the poor.”

Edmison said he believes the time to consider a ballot question is in April, which would allow the county time to experience a “period of true shortfall” in public safety tax receipts. In addition, the board doesn’t know if it will refinance some of the Justice Center bonds, or whether or not the county will be able to enter into an agreement to house Immigration and Customs Enforcement prisoners.

“The worst thing that could happen is the county be rolling in money, because we’ll find a way to spend it,” Edmison said. “I prefer we operate closer to the bone.”

Board member and finance committee chairman Fred Edwards said he has looked at the finances, and without the 1/4 percent sales tax, the county would be short about $300,000 in paying jail bonds.

“I was told the other night we should expect an increase in insurance of between $200,000 and $300,000,” Edwards said. “To me, that’s $600,000 that’s already taken up of money we don’t have right now. There’s a couple of reasons to have a 1/4 percent tax.”

Board member Wayne Hails echoed Edwards sentiment, adding that sales tax receipts are down, and have been down for at least six months, putting the remaining 1/4 percent public safety tax receipts down as well.

“I believe losing revenue is taking a dangerous step,” board member Clarence Mays added. “Especially with the way things are changing. ... We could be put in the position where [bond payments] could go to property taxes again, and I don’t want to go in that direction.”

Board member Curt Grothoff said he believes reinstating the 1/4 percent tax would be an “insurance policy to keep it off property taxes,” and further said he believes that if jail bond payments were to go on property taxes because the county didn’t reinstate the tax, it would affect people buying property in the county.

“To insinuate that if we don’t put the tax back on at this time would affect property taxes is speculative and misleading to say somehow it affects home ownership,” Nelson asserted. “My crystal ball doesn’t tell me that.”

Buck said when the 1/4 percent tax was put on three years ago it was earmarked to pay off “illegal or inappropriate loans, whatever you want to call it. I want the public to know that it will be paid off on Dec. 31, or Jan. 1, rather. ... Yes, the income will be down by the 1/4 percent, but the expenses will go down the same amount.”

Buck explained the $980,000 that is raised by the 1/4 percent tax is $20,000 more than the $960,000 that was used to pay back loans to the highway department and Fifth-Third bank.

“The officeholders have requested this,” Buck said of putting the tax question on the November ballot. “When the County Board requested it, the County Board went out and sold it. ... To me, it’s up to the county officeholders to do that. ... If we pass this and it goes on the ballot, and no one says anything (at that point), it will fail miserably. And, the city, with the increases in taxes the last few months has assisted in the failure.”

Under the recommendation of Hails, the board put a sunset clause on the question of 10 years.

In other business, the board:

Approved a resolution authorizing the petition of the Illinois Commerce Commission to replace the North Scheller Lane bridge over the Illinois Central Railroad;

Approved painting yellow and white stripes on the Dix Irvington Road from the I-57 interchange in Dix to west of Grand Prairie School at an approximate cost of $7,365, which will be taken from federal matching aid funds;

Approved fixing compensation for election judges to $145 per day if they have been trained and $120 per day if they have not been trained;

Appointed Benton Fitzjerrells as county Emergency Services and Disaster Agency director;

Approved an intergovernmental agreement for the Illinois Telecommunicator Emergency Response Task Force; and

Passed a resolution to put the question of enacting concealed carry legislation before voters.