Tazewell County committee advances tentative FY25 budget; approves $46,712 general‑fund correction

Tazewell County’s finance committee advanced the tentative fiscal year 2025 budget Tuesday, approving a technical $46,712 amendment to the general fund and forwarding a slate of special revenue funds for final consideration. Finance Director Mindy said the county expects all‑funds revenues of $96,080,009 for FY25 and outlined a five‑year capital plan that will require a $7.8 million transfer from the general fund to the county’s CIP account.

Mindy, the county’s finance director, told the committee that staff moved cell phone and iPad costs from a single general‑fund line into each department’s budget and refined capitalization policy for items costing more than $5,000. “Our revenues for fiscal year 25 are expected to be $96,080,009,” she said, summarizing the all‑funds projection and explaining that the estimate excluding CIP transfers is about $80,272,563.

The presentation showed total budgeted expenditures across all funds of $137,689,012 and an expected cash spend‑down of about $41.6 million that staff characterized as planned and funded. Mindy highlighted personnel as the largest single expense (about $47.9 million) and a planned $54.3 million of CIP spending over the next five years, including $43.4 million devoted to the Justice Center Annex.

Board members pressed staff on fund‑balance resilience and contingency treatment. In response to a question about the sustainability of a roughly $7.7 million general‑fund spend‑down, staff noted property tax inflows (including PPRT) and project choices affect long‑term balances and said the county could not sustain that level of spend‑down year after year. Mindy also explained the committee’s operating‑surplus calculation removes one‑time capital and contingency amounts to display an underlying operating surplus of $2,369,104.

A board member moved an amendment to correct five general‑fund line items — an FTE correction and several salary/calculation fixes that increased contingency — totaling $46,712. Mindy described the changes as corrections to source documents and calculation errors. The amendment was seconded and approved by voice vote; the committee then approved the general fund as amended, with an announced expenditure number (excluding transfers) of $40,751,577.

The committee also approved, mostly by voice vote, a series of special revenue funds and related amendments: health internal services (with line‑item moves for tracking), township road motor fuel tax and bridge funds, SIPA grant items, ARPA‑related transfers and multiple grants. Members amended the Veterans Assistance fund to reflect reductions tied to the VA’s planned relocation into the Tazewell Building, which staff said will eliminate rent and some utilities costs and therefore lower the levy‑funded expense for that fund.

The meeting included discussion of the property tax levy. Mindy explained the county’s levy mechanics under the county’s cited limit (“PTO” as presented to the board), she showed a sample tax bill and said the proposed total levy increase from FY24 to FY25 was 4.483 percent, which included a 36 percent increase in the Veterans Assistance levy linked to a requested new position. Committee members criticized state mandates affecting local budgets; one member said the Illinois General Assembly had placed unfunded requirements on the county.

The committee did not adopt levies at the meeting; members were reminded health‑insurance and cost‑of‑living assumptions will be considered by the HR committee and that capital projects may be carried forward into the final budget if not completed by the end of the fiscal year. The finance committee recessed with the tentative budgets advanced for subsequent steps toward the final FY25 adoption.