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Peoria County reports 38 participants in digital equity pilot; grant reimbursable, limited new enrollments
Summary
Peoria County staff updated the operations committee on a digital equity pilot launched in early 2025, reporting 38 active participants, initial expenditures and reimbursements under a $125,000 Illinois DCEO grant, and limited interest for cohort 2 because many residents already have broadband.
Peoria County health and equity staff told the operations committee on June 3 that the county’s digital equity pilot, which began enrolling in the first quarter of 2025, currently has 38 active participants and is funded by a reimbursable grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
The project “began enrolling participants within Peoria County at the beginning of Q1 of 2025,” Dr. Andre Allen told committee members. He said 37 participants live within the Comcast cable jurisdiction and one within the Mid Century Communications district, and that cohort representation spans most county board districts.
The pilot’s purpose, Allen said, is to test approaches for addressing affordability, infrastructure limitations in rural areas and quality-of-service problems. He told the committee that many residents already have some form of broadband and that the county limited cohort 2 applications to people without existing broadband service. Allen said that restriction meant only two new individuals qualified for cohort 2 and that the county made one case-by-case exception for an applicant with life circumstances that delayed earlier enrollment.
Allen gave financial details for the pilot. “Currently, our total expenses that we’ve [incurred] for the pilot has been $9,617.55, and we’ve been reimbursed $8,725.26,” he said, adding that April expenditures were $892.29 and that monthly reimbursement paperwork is submitted to DCEO. He cautioned that reimbursement is based on payment dates and can lag by as much as 60 days.
The grant totals $125,000; Allen said about $115,382.45 remained at the time of the update. He said the county obtained a grant extension and that staff are planning follow-up surveys and check-ins with cohort 1 participants to collect qualitative and quantitative feedback on usage and satisfaction. “We’ll continue to maintain timely submission of our expenditure reports to ensure that any money that we are administering on behalf of the pilot is collected in a timely manner,” Allen said.
Committee members asked about participant obligations and staff time. Committee member Vela asked whether participants are required to stay in contact to maintain program status; Allen said participation in follow-up surveys was a condition of the application and that three participants contributed to a recent county racial justice and equity annual report. He told the committee that after an intensive startup period working with the grant manager and finance staff, the pilot is now “kinda on autopilot” and that his plan is to have program closeout-ready by May 31, 2026 so that fiscal closeout work can occur before a July 1, 2026 deadline.
Allen also thanked county finance staff by name for help with Munis and reimbursements. He said staff will continue to explore amendments to the grant agreement if the county needs to reallocate funds given the lower-than-expected new-enrollee count for cohort 2.
The committee did not take formal action on the pilot during the meeting; Allen’s update was informational and followed by member questions.
