County to seek temporary reserve appropriation to back landfill committee until 'Landfill 3' agreement executes

A county official told the Peoria County Board that the Landfill Committee projects its cash reserves could be exhausted by mid–late February or early March and that the county will seek a temporary appropriation from Solid Waste Management Fund reserves to provide short-term support.

The official said they will ask for a special joint committee meeting on the day of the next board meeting (Feb. 13) to consider a recommended resolution that would appropriate reserve funds exclusively for interim support of the City–County Landfill Committee while the final Landfill 3 agreement is being negotiated and executed. The county’s staff, the city attorney, the city manager, the landfill committee chairman (Morris) and county counsel are engaged in final internal reviews of the agreement language.

The proposed budget action would be temporary, the official said: once the Landfill 3 agreement and payments from GFL are received, there would be a second budget amendment to return any unspent dollars to reserves. The county also said it expects an opportunity to negotiate reimbursement arrangements with the landfill committee for any funds the county would provide as interim support. The board was not asked to vote on the appropriation during the informational report; the matter will be presented at a forthcoming joint committee meeting and resolution.