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St. Charles committee approves $680,000 mental‑health levy allocations recommended by advisory board
Summary
The Government Operations Committee approved the Mental Health Board's recommended distribution of the city's 2024 property tax levy for mental health services, keeping a $680,000 allocation and awarding multi‑year grants to local providers.
The Saint Charles Government Operations Committee voted to approve funding allocations from the city’s annual mental‑health levy after a presentation by the Mental Health Board.
The committee approved recommendations from the Mental Health Board, which advised distributing the city’s 2024 mental health levy of $680,000 — a $20,000 increase over the prior year — to local service providers, Chair Richard Rivard told the committee.
The allocations direct the largest awards to Tri‑City Family Services ($190,000) for psychiatric crisis care and family therapy and the Ecker Center ($101,000) for its 24/7 crisis center, Rivard said. Other recommended grants included funding for the Saint Charles Police social worker for crisis intervention, Lighthouse Recovery ($67,227), Lazarus House (homeless prevention, $47,171), CASA of Kane County (child advocacy, $30,927) and AID (developmental disability support, $28,970). Rivard said the panel received 23 applications this year; three organizations were ineligible because they did not fit the board’s mission or were for‑profit.
“We had 23 applications this year, which was an increase, and we had 4 new agencies apply. 3 did not qualify. Either they didn't fit our mission statement, they were a for profit organization, or they were asking for things that didn't fit the mission statement,” Rivard said.
Committee member Grama moved to approve the Mental Health Board recommendations; Werbaugh seconded the motion, and the roll call vote was recorded in favor by all members present.
The allocations will be funded from the city’s dedicated levy, which has funded community mental‑health organizations since 1986. The committee did not amend the recommended awards and did not set additional conditions beyond the board’s normal grant processes.
Committee minutes show staff will send letters explaining eligibility decisions to applicants not selected.
