The McLean County Health Committee voted to cut taxes by reducing the levy for the McLean County Health Department. A corresponding cut to their budget will be made to reduce it. The cut would allow the McLean County Bord to pass a balanced budget for Fiscal Year 2022/2023. If the full board passes this budget it will result in two straight years without a budget increase.
When McLean County Administrator county Cassy Taylor proposed a $127 million budget in September it included a small increase in the tax levy. The cuts made in the health department budget would make that increase unnecessary and in fact result in a slight decrease in the levy.
Board member Chuck Erickson challenged the board to find a way to propose a budget that would not increase spending or taxes at the September meeting. To propose a budget that would require no tax increase at all the proposed budget only needed to be cut by $47,010. The cut proposed in the health department budget would make this possible.
McLean County Board District 10 Race Controls Balance of Power
The cuts made in the health department budget will have no impact on public services. For years the health department has been building up a savings account for use should the county ever face a pandemic. Now having been through a pandemic we have learned that when in that situation sufficient federal and state funds are provided to handle the problem.
The health department agreed to use some of these funds to help the county balance its budget this year and will seek ways to use the bulk of the funds to provide more services in the future. For example one service might be providing educational opportunities for students to help them catch up on opportunities lost from not being able to go to school during the pandemic.
The reason the health department was targeted for being cut is consistent with the board’s concern about public tax dollars being kept in savings accounts. The board is planning to cut funding for the McLean County Extension Office for the same reason.
Board member Catherine Metsker explained her reasoning for asking for the cuts to her fellow members on the health committee this way, “I really do not like to see huge fund balances. It’s taxpayer money sitting in a savings account. And that’s not what we should be doing.”
Board member and health committee chair Susan Schafer explained to the committee how the fund balance came to be in response to a question regarding its history from board member and health committee member Sharon Chung.
Schafer explained, “Over the years it had been built up and the budget was created and funds were not all spent. And so eventually you start building fund balance. … I mean its just like … your own personal budget, if you make x number of dollars but you only spend a lot less your going to eventually save some money and have a savings account.”
The McLean County Board is expected to vote on the 2022/23 budget at its meeting on November 10th.
