The County Board Executive Committee voted to recommend a $50,000 appropriation to the Heart of Illinois Regional Port District for fiscal year 2025, approving the measure by voice vote at its meeting and forwarding the item to the full county board.

Committee members said the appropriation is intended as a one-year, operational contribution to help the port district promote economic development along the Illinois River and pursue federal grants. Jennifer, the committee’s member representative, said the district has helped secure federal recognition for river ports and “they're more of a lobbying effort than anything to help get federal grants to come our way. They don't consider themselves a lobbying team because they do a lot of other things, but that's kind of the biggest area that we see the benefit coming from.”

The committee’s discussion focused on what the $50,000 would cover, what results the district has produced so far and whether the county should fund consulting or operations. Member Rezumoff said he opposed funding that would merely pay a consultant and said, “If this is what it's for, I'm not for it.” Member Ricker said he had asked for two pieces of further information—examples of results to date and the port district’s current operating budget—and said he would support one year of funding provided the group returned with more detailed reporting: “I'm still willing to support this for 1 year … and if they come back next year I expect them to have a little more details and some results.”

Committee members described the district’s past funding requests and where the $50,000 figure came from. Jennifer said the port district initially sought six-figure support and previously proposed funding at a dollar-per-resident level; committee members and the administrator negotiated the $50,000 one-year amount as seed money. She told the committee the district’s main office is in downtown Peoria and that it has used state grant money to compile tonnage and market data. Members said the district combines tonnage from multiple ports to show that the Illinois River system moves more tonnage overall than the Port of New Orleans, a point one member called misleading because gravel and sand are heavier but lower in value than grain.

Members also clarified the timing and authority for the appropriation. The committee’s action is a recommendation for fiscal year 2025 funding; one member emphasized that the request applies to FY25, not FY26. Committee members were told that the county-level appointment authority to the port district’s board comes from state statute and that counties, not cities, currently make those appointments to a state body that the governor commissions.

A motion to place the recommended appropriation on the floor was raised and the committee voted; the chair declared the motion carried by voice vote. Committee discussion included offers from the port district to meet with individual members and to place interested members on its mailing list. Several members said they would support a one-year appropriation on the condition the district return with clearer operating budgets and concrete results before any renewal.

The committee noted procedural limits: the action in committee is by simple majority, but a budget amendment at the full county board will require a two-thirds vote to take effect. The recommendation now goes to the full county board for consideration under that higher threshold.