Committee reviews departmental reports; county clerk reports close elections and tax mailing plans

Stephenson County department heads gave routine reports to the Administration and Week of Affairs Committee on April 9 covering finance, records, elections, assessments and information technology.

Finance and investments: A finance presenter reported that month-over-month account funds were down but that a state IT grant to the circuit clerk boosted receipts. The presenter said the value of invested funds stood at $10,600,000 with 29 active investments and that two investments matured during the month, producing about $6,100 in interest. The presenter said the county renegotiated interest rates on one institution, increasing yields by roughly one percentage point.

Claims and approvals: The committee approved claims totaling $43,914.05 and approved the meeting agenda and minutes from March 12, 2025. The motions to approve were put forward and approved by voice vote; the committee recorded the items as moved and approved.

Recorder and recordings: The recorder reported 544 documents recorded in March. Revenue-stamp receipts were reported for the county and the state; the presenter said county stamps totaled 6,271 (as reported) and the state portion was “a little over 12,000.”

Elections recap: County election staff reported the April election produced low turnout compared with November, a significant number of write-in votes and two races still extremely close: one race was a tie and one candidate led by a single vote. Vote-by-mail ballots will be accepted through April 15 and county staff said they planned to certify results on April 16. Staff explained that heavy write-in activity lengthened the post-election processing because each write-in line is printed and must be tallied and returned by precinct.

Assessor and property tax timing: The supervisor of assessments was not present but, as read by staff, the office is waiting on the state multiplier; staff said they expect to have the necessary information by the end of the week or the beginning of next week so the clerk can finish mailing. County staff said they were targeting an earlier mailing this year so taxpayers have the same amount of time to pay; the second installment remains scheduled for September. Staff emphasized they cannot set a due date earlier than 30 days after mailing under applicable deadlines.

IT and facilities projects: IT staff reported completion of an EMA/sheriff media room upgrade and ongoing projects including a server and storage overhaul for the circuit clerk, courtroom audiovisual updates scheduled for the week of May 19, a countywide phone system replacement and the countywide copy-equipment agreement awarded to Access Systems (Dubuque) with a 4–6 week lead time for equipment delivery. IT said elevator phones and some camera and fire-detection connectivity were addressed in advance of an inspection and that several router and server upgrades are planned at county facilities.

Audit and administrative items: County administration said audit field work is scheduled for the week of April 25 and reminded departments to update capital-asset listings. The administration also noted upcoming training by ICRMT and an ILCMA regional meeting to be hosted in the county on April 17.

Votes at a glance: - Agenda approval — outcome: approved (voice vote) - Minutes approval (03/12/2025) — outcome: approved (voice vote) - Claims approval — $43,914.05 — outcome: approved (voice vote) - Motion to adjourn — outcome: approved (voice vote)

These routine approvals were recorded by voice vote; transcript does not include a roll-call tally for each motion.

The committee’s next regular work will include review of budget-policy changes and follow-ups on the audit and IT contract review.