Finance committee approves claims, defers police allocation decisions and recommends fire and EMS contracts
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Summary
The Iroquois County Finance Committee recommended county board approval of fire and EMS contracts, deferred decisions on municipal police allocations until staff provides contract detail, and approved routine claims following discussion of a spreadsheet of 2025 payments.
The Iroquois County Finance Committee on an unspecified date recommended the county board approve fire and EMS contract allocations while deferring final decisions on how police-related payments were divided among villages and towns until staff provides missing contract details.
The committee review began after Speaker 1 said, “So I have received a spreadsheet from Liz Lotzello that has a list…just for the police department segment,” and asked staff to explain how allocations were made. Committee members discussed per-municipality figures cited from the spreadsheet, including amounts of about $26.71 for Wilford, Narga and Sheldon, roughly $23.10 for Ashcombe and Clifton, and about $8.66 for Woodland. Speaker 2 told the committee that Gilman had no contract amount included because, in the speaker’s words, the town “refuse[s] to pay” and the county provides only emergency responses there.
Committee members debated whether portions of contracts were routed to joint dispatch or the Emergency Telephone System Board (ETSB). Speaker 2 said, “All dispatch fees go to joint dispatch,” and clarified that surcharge money from cell phones funds the ETSB budget. The committee concluded it lacked the contract-level detail needed to reconcile the spreadsheet and asked staff to return with the numbers. Speaker 1 recommended, and the committee put forward as its position, that the board approve fire and EMS contracts now and that police allocations be studied and brought back next month.
The committee then moved and seconded approval of routine claims, including an additional item for $108.40. The motion was carried by audible voice responses recorded in the transcript (multiple “Yes” responses and one “No” were noted); individual votes were not identified in the record.
What’s next: staff was asked to prepare and deliver contract detail and allocation calculations to the committee by Thursday morning if possible so the item can be reviewed again at policy or brought back to the committee at the next meeting. The committee’s recommendation on fire and EMS will be forwarded to the full board for formal action.
