Champaign County Board approves amended $255,994.52 transfer from circuit clerk special funds

The Champaign County Board on Feb. 25 adopted an amended resolution to transfer $255,994.52 from circuit-clerk special revenue accounts into the general fund to align revenues received in fiscal 2024 with expenditures.

The move, approved after a roll-call vote, changes an earlier proposed transfer of $355,154.31 and follows a lengthy floor discussion about whether the full original amount would leave the circuit clerk’s office short of money for ongoing operations and for a planned record-digitization project.

The board took up “Resolution 2025-65, budget transfer BUA 2024,” after the circuit clerk explained that additional revenue had arrived late in 2024 and proposed moving the funds so the county’s books would reflect the revenues in the year they were received. The circuit clerk told the board the office had sought outside grant money from the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts to support a digitization effort but had not received that grant and therefore recommended recording and transferring the revenues.

Board member JJ offered an amendment that reduced the transfer to $255,994.52, describing a detailed breakdown in a memo and on the record. The amendment was seconded and adopted; the final resolution was then approved by roll call.

Members debated whether to move the full $355,154.31. The circuit clerk said she would not approve transferring the full amount because doing so would “hurt the operation of my office” by leaving only fund balances and no liquidity to support the office’s flat 2025 operating budget. The clerk said some of the revenue in the special funds derives from user fees and stated that statutory restrictions apply to those funds.

Board discussion focused on two issues: (1) accounting and transparency — board members said they prefer revenues and related expenditures be recorded in the same fiscal year to preserve accurate multi-year trend data — and (2) legal and custodial limits on special-fee funds. Several members said transfers of special-fund revenue to the general fund are standard county practice when expenses are budgeted in the general fund, but others stressed that moving money into the general fund would remove the fee-based restrictions the clerk cited.

The circuit clerk described the digitization need in detail and gave cost estimates: she said she had proposed $200,000 to start digitization and an additional $45,000 for a contract agency to assist. She warned that existing microfilm records are aging and at risk of physical deterioration and that the county should start preserving those records. The clerk also said the office is already participating in a separate ARPA-funded digitization contract with a vendor (referred to on the record as Fiddler) that runs into 2026, but she said the new work she described was a separate need.

Board members asked for a written plan and a follow-up meeting to sort the accounting and restrictions. The clerk and several members agreed to meet the next day with county budget staff to determine which accounts the amended transfer would draw from and how to document any agreement.

Votes at a glance: The board adopted the amended resolution (Resolution 2025-65) by voice vote on the amendment and then by roll call on final adoption. The roll call recorded “Yes” from the following members: Covert; Esri; Farney; Fava; Fortado; Greer; Hanauer Friedman; Lochshan; Pugh; Rodriguez; Sexton; Store; Solard; Thorsland; Vanish Theronaut; Wiggs; Wilson; Kegel; Carter; Locke. The clerk declared the motion passed.

The board adjourned with no further business on the agenda.

"I will only transfer the $255," the circuit clerk said, explaining she would not approve transferring the full original amount without a written agreement on how additional funds would be used. Board member JJ said he proposed the amendment to match the circuit clerk’s memo and to record the revenues in 2024, and Board member Stephanie McGrath said she supported the amendment as consistent with standard budget practice.

The board scheduled follow-up conversations among the circuit clerk, the budget office and other county officials to finalize the accounting lines and any required written agreement.