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University of Illinois Extension says levy not increasing but warns reserves may last three years
Summary
Carla Belzer told the committee the Extension unit is not seeking a local increase this year but is drawing down cash reserves and could exhaust them in about three years if funding doesn't change; she highlighted state match dynamics, shared staffing across three counties, and possible options to reduce office rental costs.
Carla Belzer of the University of Illinois Extension said the unit is not requesting an increase from Lee County this year, crediting aggressive fiscal management and shared staffing across the three-county extension unit. "We are still coming in. We're spending our cash reserve, but...if nothing changes in our funding structure...we would have approximately 3 years until we spent down our cash reserves down to 0," she said.
Belzer described revenue sources including local levy (which triggers state match) and Smith-Lever federal funding; she said the unit is projecting state match to be about 70% this year and that shared positions are costed across counties by population. She raised the possibility of reducing office rental costs if needed but emphasized preserving local presence and services.
