[cifnmedia] County creates emergency management position
- From: Sean & Kimberly Aaron <cifn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: CIFN LIST <cifnmedia@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 08:02:06 -0800 (PST)
Local News
County creates emergency management position
By BILL GRIMES, Daily News
In yet another sign of these terrorism-conscious times, the Effingham County
Board voted unanimously Monday to create a full-time emergency management
position.
Longtime Emergency Services and Disaster Agency Director Russ Thomas was
appointed as the county's first full-time ESDA coordinator, effective March 1.
Thomas will be paid $25,506 through the end of the current fiscal year on Nov.
30. His annual salary will be $34,000, half of which will be paid by the
Illinois Emergency Management Agency.
Board Chairman Leonard Waldhoff said Thomas' full-time appointment was a result
of an "increased emphasis" on homeland security. Effingham County is part of a
14-county region trying to receive a state grant for homeland security.
Thomas said federal officials from the Department of Homeland Security are
putting increased duties on emergency coordinators, meaning that it takes more
time to be an emergency coordinator than it did even five years ago.
"It shows a really good commitment on the part of the board to create this
position," Thomas said. "I think after the tragic events of 9/11, governments
realize there must be a more coordinated reaction to these events."
Thomas said some of his first duties will be to develop and maintain an
emergency operation plan for what must be done in case of a major disaster.
Thomas has operated the CB Shop in Effingham since 1975. He has been a
"part-time" ESDA coordinator since October 1997.
Thomas said the CB Shop will either be sold or close within the next month.
In other action Monday, the board decided to table a resolution that would have
signed off on a proposed Tax Increment Finance term extension for the city of
Effingham.
The board tabled the resolution after hearing a lengthy presentation by Board
of Review member Jack Klay, who said the TIF district under consideration did
not meet guidelines the state has set forth for TIFs.
Klay said the area of TIF District No. 1, which includes much of Effingham's
interstate highway frontage on the north side of the city, isn't "blighted,"
nor were many of the structures and features in the district 35 years old at
the time the TIF district was formed in 1987. The 35-year standard is another
TIF feature.
"The interstate didn't even exist 35 years before this district was organized,"
Klay said.
Klay said residents are, in effect, getting taxed twice because so much of the
Equalized Assessed Valuation of the district is tied up in TIF. He said nearly
two-thirds of the more than $32 million EAV within district boundaries bound by
TIF.
TIF districts have been credited with inducing many national chains to locate
in Effingham and other Illinois cities. Qualifying businesses within the
district are eligible for property tax breaks of up to 10 years
"There's nothing wrong with these projects," Klay said. "It's the way people
are financing them."
Klay said a portion of TIF-eligible property is not thrown into the same pot as
the rest of the taxable property in the city. That means, he said, Unit 40
residents pay an increased tax rate to make up the difference from the loss of
revenue in the TIF district.
The increase in property values within the TIF district is diverted to a TIF
fund to be used to develop the area within the district or to reimburse the
property owner for improvements.
Klay said all of his figures could be backed up by county records.
He said he is fed up with what he considers to be over-taxation.
"Enough is enough. Extending the life of this district will make the back of my
hair rise," he said. "I don't approve of this extension, and I am going to
oppose this with all my resources.
"You are making the people pay more money than they have to," he said. "The
smaller the number of people contributing to the tax base, the more everyone
else has to pay."
While the board's Legislative Committee had recommended the resolution
supporting the city's effort to extend the life of TIF No. 1 to 2021, Klay's
presentation apparently gave the full board reason to pause.
"I respect Mr. Klay coming up here," said board member Steve Martin. "I feel
like I owe it to him to investigate this a little more before I make that
motion."
Waldhoff said after the meeting that the city does not actually need county
board approval to extend the life of the district. The city has sought letters
of support from taxing entities impacted by the TIF for the purpose of its
upcoming extension hearing in Springfield.
In other action Monday, the board approved a preliminary engineering agreement
with Charleston Engineering of Olney for work on a county bridge northwest of
Dieterich.
The board also:
€ Approved a salary resolution for Cheryl Meyer, chief managing officer in
the Probation Department. Meyer's salary of $46,281.31 was awarded retroactive
through Dec. 1.
€ Approved a pair of budget resolutions that involve money from the county's
drug forfeiture fund. One resolution for $5,000 will enable the state's
attorney's office to hire part-time help, while the other, for $640, will pay
overtime expenses for deputies involved in a recebt murder investigation near
Beecher City.
€ Passed a resolution supporting boundary amendments in the Altamont
Enterprise Zone.
€ Agreed to move the polling place for Douglas Township Precinct 7 from South
Side School to the Effingham Park District office at 1906 S. Fourth Street.
Bill Grimes can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 132 or
bgrimes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sean A. Aaron (CIFN*1)
Central Illinois Fire Network
cifn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.geocities.com/central_illinois_firenet
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