Advocates ask committee to send 708 community mental health levy referendum to full board

Advocates and local providers on the county’s opioid subcommittee presented an overview of creating a 708 Community Mental Health Board and asked the committee to recommend placing a tax-levy referendum on the November 2026 ballot.

Julie Buck of the Community Foundation of Grundy County told the committee a small working group has discussed a 7‑0‑8 board to address gaps in behavioral health care, including substance-use disorder treatment, mental health services and developmental disabilities supports. Buck said state statute permits a county to fund a 708 board by property-tax levy or sales tax and that the group used LaSalle County figures and Grundy County assessed value estimates to model possible revenue. "At the lowest rate it could bring in about a half‑million dollars, at a mid rate about $1.5 million, and at the highest rate roughly $4 million," she said.

The presentation laid out an implementation path: if voters approve a referendum, the county board would appoint a seven‑to‑nine‑member resident committee to become the Community Mental Health Board, conduct or review a community needs assessment, prepare a budget, and release a notice of funding opportunity to nonprofits and local government applicants. Buck emphasized the board would set grant criteria, review outcomes annually and report back to the county board.

Clinician testimony underscored service gaps. Jennifer Thomas, a Morris Hospital addiction‑medicine and primary‑care psychiatry physician, said far fewer residents now have reliable access to psychiatry and long‑term counseling after the county’s behavioral health office closed in April 2025. "What we have now is not a direct service provider," Thomas said, adding that she has taken on many patients who previously received county services.

Committee members asked for additional analysis comparing a property‑tax levy with a sales‑tax approach and for more detail on grant eligibility and conflict‑of‑interest safeguards for potential grantees. Committee member (speaker 6) told colleagues the presentation was for information and that the committee’s next step would be a vote on whether to ask the full county board to place a nonbinding referendum on the November ballot.

The committee did not adopt a final ordinance or levy tonight; presenters and staff were asked to prepare more detailed comparisons and draft referendum language for the committee and the county clerk’s office if the committee chooses to move forward. The committee’s recommendation to send the matter to the full county board will be considered at the next meeting.