Peoria County reports 93 households approved for digital equity pilot; rural infrastructure barrier highlighted

Peoria County staff reported on Jan. 9 that the county’s digital equity pilot received 348 initiated applications and that roughly 93 households have been approved to participate in an initial enrollment round.

The update, delivered to the Peoria County Board by Mr. Allen, a Peoria County staff member, said 95 applications were complete and scored, 94 were initially selected, and one of those was later found ineligible because the household lived outside Peoria County. “Of those 348 applications, we had 95 that were complete,” Mr. Allen said. He added that one otherwise-eligible household could not be served because a service-provider site visit showed it would cost about $70,000 to install the necessary infrastructure.

The pilot’s applicants come from across the county, including Peoria, West Peoria, Bartville and Princeville. Mr. Allen said staff worked with the county GIS team to map in-progress and completed applications and that representatives from 18 county board districts applied; at the time of the report, districts 12, 13 and 15 had no approved participants.

Why it matters: the pilot is intended to test enrollment processes and service delivery before the county expands the program. Mr. Allen told the board the pilot will focus first on getting the currently approved applicants onboarded with local providers and then use remaining grant funds to either convert incomplete applications or open a new application round.

Key details and next steps - Application window and counts: the application opened Oct. 29 and closed Dec. 26. Staff recorded 348 initiated applications, 95 complete applications, and roughly 93 active approvals after eligibility and infrastructure checks. - Providers and costs: approved applicants are within provider service areas including Comcast and Mid Century Fiber. Mr. Allen said Comcast’s Internet Essentials Plus offering is priced at $29.99 per month, while other providers serving more rural areas charge between $59.99 and $79.99 per month; final counts of subsidized households will depend on that provider mix. - Onboarding: the county has notified approved applicants and begun onboarding with service providers; community workshops at the downtown library will help applicants complete enrollment with provider staff on hand. - Grant timeline and reimbursements: Mr. Allen said the county received a grant extension through 2026 (identified in the meeting as through “DCCO”) and that the county received reimbursement for its initial software fee used to collect applications (reimbursement described in the record as processed through “BCCO”). The transcript uses those acronyms; the meeting did not provide expanded agency names.

Questions raised by board members Board members asked about the household that could not be served and about the program’s capacity to add more households. In response to Member Blair, Mr. Allen said the household that required expensive infrastructure was in a rural area near Springfield and that staff are collecting that kind of data to support future funding requests. When Member Rosenbaum asked how many more households the county could serve with additional funding, Mr. Allen said capacity “fluctuates” based on provider rates and the mix of provider territories, and noted the county hopes to add roughly 100 more households as the program scales.

Context and background The pilot launched in fall 2024. Staff said scoring of complete applications was conducted by the county’s human resources/DEI generalist, Britney Graves, together with committee members from the Joint Commission on Racial Justice and Equity’s Information Technology Group. Ian Stearns of the county GIS team produced maps showing the geographic distribution of applicants. Staff also said finance staff assisted to secure early reimbursement for the application software fee.

Votes at a glance - Motion to allow Member Daley to participate via teleconference: moved by Member Duncan, seconded by Member Ranel; voice vote — passed (Ayes have it). - Approval of minutes for Dec. 3 and Dec. 12: moved by Member Rudland, seconded by Member Coats; voice vote — passed (Ayes have it). - Ways and Means: delinquent taxes resolution for December 2024 with 32 conveyances — reported by Member Duncan as having passed unanimously in committee; the board report noted a unanimous committee vote.

What the record does and does not show The board packet and Mr. Allen’s update include maps and a spreadsheet identifying in-progress and completed applications. The transcript records the pilot’s application and selection counts and the county’s plan to focus on onboarding the initial approved applicants before expanding. The meeting record does not show final enrollment confirmation for every approved household, does not provide full names for some acronyms (the transcript uses “DCCO” and “BCCO”) and does not provide vote tallies beyond the actions summarized above.

Looking ahead Mr. Allen told the board staff will continue onboarding the initial cohort, host library workshops with provider staff present and then either follow up with incomplete applicants or open a new application round using remaining grant funds. He said the grant extension to 2026 will give staff time to expand enrollment once onboarding and billing processes are verified.