McHenry County Law & Government/Liquor Committee met March 5.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
I. CALL TO ORDER
Meeting called to order at: 8:30 AM by Jeffrey T Thorsen.
PRESENT: Thorsen, Nowak (Remote 8:33 AM), Althoff, Phillips (Remote), Von Bergen (Remote), Wegener (Remote), Wilbeck (Remote)
ABSENT: Jung Jr.
Also present was: Peter Austin; County Administrator, Scott Hartman; Deputy County Administrator, Alicia Schueller; Communications and Project Manager, Bridjette Andrade; Public Member. Additional members who attended via webex: Chalen Daigle; County Coordinator.
II. PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
III. MEMBER COMMENT
None.
IV. NEW BUSINESS
1. Resolution to Adopt the 2021 Legislative Program
Chair Thorsen began stating the intention of the meeting is to review and approve the resolution to adopt the 2021 Legislative Program. He stated there were some questions and discussion was wanted in order to come forth and have something presented at the next Committee of the Whole. He then opened the floor up for discussion and questions on the matter.
Ms. Wegener wanted to begin the “Priorities” section mentioning she had a few questions. Her first concern was with the fact that the Legislative Program document was put together already and she believes as the Law/Government & Liquor committee that it should have been something that was drafted up from the committee. She was inquiring how they go about the process and if they are accessible to discussing other items, as well going forward she mentioned she has topics that she would like to add to the agenda.
Chair Thorsen wanted Ms. Schueller to explain the methodology that got the committee to this place and also where the document came from, because he does not believe that it was rewritten to a great extent.
Ms. Schueller stated she did not have a lot to go off of the first time around due to this being a program that has not been in place for five years, so the approach that she took with the assistance of the County Administrator was to look at the tenets that they had before. Upon reviewing what has been done in the past they attempt to fold legislation based on the tenets, as well if any members have any additions to incorporate. She stated that a majority of what is included in the document stems from concerns or expressions made by board members.
Chair Thorsen stated that today is the day they should discuss the issues that any members want brought forward. In the conclusion of the discussion the hope is to have a resolution to bring to the Committee of the Whole then to the County Board to be voted on.
Ms. Wegener stated that she has a better understanding and gave Ms. Schueller credit for what she has done and also mentioning that what was brought forward is something of a starting document, rather than looking at it to be approved right away. She believes it to be important that to have full committee input on creating a version of the current document. She inquired about the tenets and some that are in other County’s Legislative Programs as well, oppose unfunded mandates imposed by the state of federal government. She stated that fiscally she agrees that it is there but she also wanted to make sure that they are not opposing a bill that some board members agree with because there is another tenet.
Chair Thorsen recommended taking the document in a numeric fashion, by going in order any issues that board member may have can be discussed.
1. “Support legislation granting additional permissive authorities for counties.” None of the committee members had any concerns or issues.
2. “Support legislation allowing counties to expand non-property tax revenue sources.” Mr. Nowak stated he would like if Ms. Schueller or Mr. Austin could give a clear explanation to what it means as far as dollars and cents. Mr. Austin stated this tenet is very standard in a lot of local governments’ documents and it is essentially saying that local governments would like more authority. He stated that at the current time they only have the authority given to them by the general assembly. It is looking for different tools, some that may not have been thought of, to bring in new revenues instead of more property tax. In recent years they have seen new revenues come in the form of marijuana sales for example, which is something they did not even anticipate eight years ago but it is a good example of a non-property tax revenue. He stated that it is just a good tool that the County government can act on if they wanted to find other ways to decrease property tax. Mr. Nowak thanked Mr. Austin for his explanation and requested if he could go further and explain the abatement of the taxes, he inquired if the county is abating it, and stated that is what is confusing to him. Chair Thorsen stated they have already addressed the first tenet and they have moved on to the second tenet. Mr. Austin believes his inquiring about the legislative priorities section of the document. Chair Thorsen confirmed that he was indeed on that section and informed Mr. Nowak that they were currently on the legislative tenets portion and once they are finished with the tenets they will move to the priorities.
3. “Oppose unfunded mandates imposed by the state of federal government.” Chair Thorsen stated that he is completely in line with this tenet, but wants to hear from the committee members. Mr. Nowak stated that he knows unfunded mandates are hard on the municipalities in the County and it has been an issue for as long as he can recall. He added that he agrees with Ms. Wegener on her thoughts on not wanting to see things pushed to the side because they are unfunded from the State. Ms. Wegener wanted to provide an example, if there was a bill out there that there must be drop boxes for zoning applications or marriage licenses etc., and she knows it is a minimal fee but they do not fund that. She inquired if that legislation would then be opposed, because it is something that would be expedient for the consumer but it is a positive for the County as a whole. She stated that she would just like some input on what the other committee members feel, whether they are for or opposed to this tenet. Ms. Althoff believes Ms. Wegener is getting into the weeds on this but appreciates that fact that she wants clarity. She went on to explain how it was done in the past and admittedly she was the person who received the message. She stated she believes this to be an important tenet, but if necessary she thinks adding verbiage or clarification would be useful to have documented into the policy so that it is clear as they proceed. Chair Thorsen stated that this is not a stagnate document, they can bring forth an amendment or change as they go through and the key is to have a starting point. With regard to the unfunded mandates tenet he sees the options are to either modify it now or down the road or remain silent on the issue which he does not feel is in the county’s best interest. Ms. Wegener stated she does not know what the verbiage would be but she does think it would be beneficial to have something clarifying included. Chair Thorsen suggested that Ms. Schueller, Ms. Wegner and Ms. Althoff work together on the additional language to include.
4. “Oppose legislation that would reduce the existing authority of county government.” Ms. Phillips stated that this tenet is very self-explanatory and she is not opposed to it at all. Ms. Wegener stated she agrees and has no issues. None of the committee members had any concerns or issues.
5. “Oppose legislation that erodes the existing County revenue base.” None of the committee members had any concerns or issues.
6. “Support legislation that benefits the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of McHenry County.” None of the committee members had any concerns or issues.
Chair Thorsen inquired to the committee on some discussion he heard in regards to adding a seventh and eighth tenet, he stated that the time to discuss is now. Ms. Wegener stated she was the initial person that wanted to potentially do so but she does not believe it is appropriate anymore, so that can be taken off the table since she now sees how bills go through, how they are created and passed.
After the discussion of the Tenets, Chair Thorsen moved forward to the Priorities section of the document.
Legislative Priorities
1. “Eliminate Barriers to Rebate Property Taxes.” Mr. Nowak began requesting if Mr. Austin can provide an overview of the priority. Chair Thorsen stated they will have to revisit this one due to Mr. Austin having to step out for a meeting. Once Mr. Austin rejoined the meeting he provided Mr. Nowak further information regarding the priority. Mr. Nowak remained against the priority, with that the committee was in consensus to keep it in the document.
2. “Township Dissolution Improvements.” Mr. Nowak wanted to mention that he is in agreement of this. Chair Thorsen explained the genesis of this based on a specific township that was potentially going to be dissolved in McHenry County, so the township itself had taken action on reducing its levy prior to the potential dissolution of the township which would have left the county with 90%. He believes this priority is basically protecting the county in that event, if the townships can determine their own levy they will dissolve and the county will pay the price. None of the committee members had any concerns or issues.
3. “Reverse the Erosion of Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF) Revenue.” None of the committee members had any concerns or issues.
4. “Regional Office of Education Reform.” Ms. Althoff explained that it is a situation that has occurred in McHenry County which has been elevated, she stated it is also true in other counties in the State of Illinois who have a regional office of education elected position. The situation is that it is getting more difficult to find qualified candidates to run for the office based on the legislation or the statute that currently exists today, there is some investigation going on, similar to what was done with the Fox Waterway Agency, with discussion on reevaluating the criteria that an individual has to have to run for the office. She stated many of the discussions surrounding that have also noted that the position may be appointed and not elected, there should be an option to allow certain counties can make determination about whether they would like to retain the elected or make it appointed along with the criteria. Mr. Wilbeck inquired about a prior election regarding the regional office of education and he thought the voters had voted to eliminate it, he inquired to where they stand on that today. Chair Thorsen apologized but stated he was unfamiliar with that, along with Ms. Althoff. Mr. Wilbeck stated he will get ahold of Joe Tirio, County Clerk, and attempt to get information from him. Ms. Phillips mentioned the verbiage, she would like to make the document gender neutral by changing “he” to “they”. Ms. Schueller stated she would like to agree but that is the exact language of the statute, she stated that she could add in the request to make the statute gender neutral. Chair Thorsen stated his understanding is that we have to stick to the language of the statute as written. He suggested putting the “he” in parenthesis and adding the word they or vice versa, something to acknowledge the difference between the verbiage and the statute. Ms. Althoff added that there was legislation that passed which requires all of the statutes to become gender neutral.
5. “Clarify the Definition of Public Highway to Include Sidewalks & Bike Paths.” Chair Thorsen stated he feels it is an interesting and self-explanatory. Ms. Wegener stated she has no issues with it. Mr. Nowak wanted to state that he agrees with it as well. None of the committee members had any concerns or issues.
6. “Permit the Publication of Assessments Online.” None of the committee members had any concerns or issues. Chair Thorsen wanted to point out that not everyone is online nowadays, so he wonders if the accessibility is going to take a ding if they go from paper to online.
Chair Thorsen inquired if any committee members had any additional initiatives they would like to discuss. Ms. Wegener stated she did not have any specific bills she would like to discuss but in the future she does have more initiatives she would like to add in. She suggested adding in another portion to the document regarding subjects they would like legislators to bring forward. Mr. Nowak wanted to include language added as an initiative regarding continuing the format for the meetings as Webex after the pandemic. Chair Thorsen suggested coming up with verbiage to bring forward the topic at the Committee of the Whole as a priority. Mr. Austin wanted to mention that it will be this format for a while, it is looking like it will be the new normal after the pandemic but there is the possibility of pushing against the open meetings act, so that is his caution. He does agree if it is the committee’s pleasure to add a seventh initiative that they continue the current format of meeting then he has no problem with that. Ms. Wegener wanted to include initiatives and priorities on the assistance of Veterans, with their tax exemptions and benefits. Mr. Nowak wanted to add something related to Ms. Wegener’s request, he mentioned he knows of individuals that do not get married or re married they just have domestic partners because of the benefits. Chair Thorsen suggested adding that topic to the agenda do list so they can have a discussion in the near future in this committee. He inquired if everyone is comfortable submitting the document to the Committee of the Whole and then to the County Board with the updates from Ms. Althoff Ms. Wegener and Ms. Schueller in the form of a resolution.
| RESULT: RECOMMENDED WITH CHANGES [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Pamela Althoff SECONDER: Kelli Wegener AYES: Thorsen, Nowak, Althoff, Phillips, Von Bergen, Wegener, Wilbeck ABSENT: Jung Jr. |
A Motion was made by Mr. Nowak, Seconded by Ms. Wegener to adjourn the meeting. The Motion passed on a voice vote of all present members voting aye, the meeting was adjourned at 9:50 AM.
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