The Public Policy Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Wednesday, January 8, 2003 at 6:30p.m. at the DeKalb County Legislative Center’s Freedom Conference Room. Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias called the meeting to order. Members present were Pat LaVigne, Richard Osborne, Patricia Vary and Joseph Wiegand.  Mr. Pritchard was absent. 

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

Moved by Ms. LaVigne, seconded by Mr. Osborne, and it was carried unanimously to accept the minutes of the December 16, 2002 meeting.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Moved by Mr. Wiegand, seconded by Ms. LaVigne, and it was carried unanimously that the agenda be approved.

PUBLIC COMMENT

No one was present for public comment.

LEGISLATIVE AGENDA FINAL DISCUSSION:

Chairman Tobias said that the committee needs to finalize the legislative agenda to be able to send it on to the full board for approval.  At the last meeting everyone took about 3 items and looked for more information on them to bring back to the committee this month to decide which item will be included in the final booklet. 

Chairman Tobias has item #1 – Amend the Property Tax Limitation Law.   Mr. Wiegand said that he is opposed to this item (See Mr. Wiegand’s List of Opposed items attached to these minutes).  He feels that any attempt to modify the conditions of PTELL should be subject to the voter approval at referendum.  He further stated that “.county exposure to state retirement programs is directly attributable to county controlled decisions on hiring levels.  Tort and Liability claim payments are a result of decisions made in the course of adjudication or settlement….” Mr. Bockman said that he agrees with part of what Mr. Wiegand has said, however, the pension funds are determined by the State, not us.  If the public wants more services, they then have to look at PTELL. 

After further discussion Ms. Vary suggested leaving this item on the agenda, but shifting it to a low level.  Moved by Mr. Wiegand, seconded by Mr. Osborne, to remove this item from the agenda.  A voice vote was taken.  Mr. Wiegand reminded the members that a no vote on the motion is a yes vote for the inclusion of the item.  1 member voted aye and 4 members voted nay.  Motion failed.  Item #1 stays on the legislative agenda.

Item #2 – Population Parameter and the General Fund Tax Rate Limit.  Mr. Wiegand opposed this issue too.  Mr. Bockman said that Mr. Wiegand’s objection to it is probably “right on the money,” it basically is a cap under a cap.  After further discussion it was Moved by Mr. Wiegand to remove the item from the agenda and seconded by Ms. Vary, it was carried unanimously to remove this item from the agenda. 

Item #3- Recognize contributory negligence as part of Workmen’s Compensation.  It is both wise and fair to place limitations on claims for lost wages and settlements for permanent injuries, after the employer pays reasonable medical bills, in cases where it has been proven that the employee was negligent in following prescribed safety procedures on the job.  Mr. Wiegand said that he supports this item because employers are unfairly penalized for unwise actions taken by employees. 

Mr. Osborne said that contributory negligence is a tort law concept.  Workers Compensation is a statutory system serving as the only means of recovery available to employees who are injured during the course of their employment.  The objective of the system, in part was to eliminate the defense of contributory negligence, which is backed up by statements in court decisions from the 1920s, 50s, 80s, 80s on down to now.  The way the system works, the only real question dealt with is whether an injury was during the course of employment or not and recovery is based on what amounts to a table of body part and injuries with amounts paid out based on average wages.  The question of fault, which is what negligence and contributory negligence is about, is foreign to the system.

Prior to workers’ compensation the remedies available to an employee who suffers an injury during the course of their employment were common law tort remedies and frequently recovery would be barred or severely limited by defenses like contributory negligence.  Contributory negligence places the cost of the injury, at times disabling injury, on the worker and the worker’s family.  The introduction of contributory negligence, would be an introduction of a foreign element, the question of fault, to a system designed to not address the question of fault at all would hurt employees and their families and cripple a key element of why the system exists in the first place.  Therefore, I am against this item being included, said Mr. Osborne.

Mr. Bockman said that Mr. Osborne raises a good point here, that is, if your going to introduce fault here, then you need to do it on both sides. 

Moved by Mr. Wiegand, seconded by Ms. LaVigne, and it failed to be carried  to include this item on the agenda.   There were 2 yes votes and 3 no votes.  Motion failed.

Item #6 – Local Government Employees as Poll Workers.  Ms. LaVigne read some new language that needed to be added and extracted.  Under solution:  delete “ local government” and add “allow employees to get time off work to serve as election judges in their local jurisdiction, with a 20-day written notice to their employers.”  Under Action: it was suggested to delete “similar to that in  California”… and “… local government workers.” She suggested that it now read: “Support legislation to allow employees time off to act as election judges in local polling places.”

Moved by Ms. Vary, seconded by Mr. Osborne, and it was carried to make the suggested modifications and then include the item in the legislative agenda.  Mr. Wiegand voted no. 

Item #7 – Mortgage Electronic Recording System.  It was moved by Ms. LaVigne, seconded by Ms. Vary, to include this item on the legislative agenda.  After a brief discussion by the committee, Ms. Holmes said that she felt that this was a duplication of the resolution that was adopted a few years ago.  Motion failed. 

Item #4 – Farmland Preservation.  Ms. Vary was assigned to this item to research.  She talked to Mr. Paul Miller, DeKalb County Planning and Zoning Director, about this issue and he directed her to a website for the American planning organization.  She said that a few things that stood out were that 18 states have these purchase of development rights.  They usually are states that have a lot of agriculture and that it is not mandatory in any way.  It gives counties a tool so that it allows them to go to the voters for a referendum asking them if this is what they want and also has a minimal tax of usually about .1cent per cap.  That is enough to have a fund for it.  She feels that this should be our #1 priority on the legislative agenda.  Mr. Wiegand opposes this issue (see his sheet attached to these minutes). 

Moved by Mr. Osborne, seconded by Ms. Vary, to include this item on the legislative agenda. Discussion followed.   Mr. Wiegand said that the responsibility to preserve farmland is with the farming community.  He feels that government creates a lower class of property, that which has been diminished in value by the assignation of its development rights.  The initiation of a funding mechanism is nothing but the creation of a tax.  After further discussion, the committee amended the wording to include under the Action: “Ask legislators to sponsor a bill to grant counties PDR rights, and the right to initiate a referendum to fund it.” 

It was carried to include this item on the legislative agenda list.  There was one no vote.

Item #8 – Cost Sharing for County Jail Inmates.  Mr. Wiegand opposed this item.  He feels that the local communities lack the resources to meet the mandates of this proposal.  Current state law and funding mechanisms acknowledge and reward the county as the responsible party for incarceration pending trial.  Chairman Tobias said that this item  is not for the total cost of incarceration it’s for medical coverage.  Ms. Vary felt that we should keep this item on the list but to place it as a low priority because we have that responsibility.

Moved by Ms. Vary, seconded by Mr. Osborne, and it was carried to include this item on the list.   Mr. Wiegand voted no.

Item #9 – State funding for jail expansion.  Chairman Tobias said that this was not a good time to ask for this.  Mr. Bockman said yes, since the State is in worse shape then we are. 

Moved by Mr. Wiegand, seconded by Ms. LaVigne and it was carried unanimously to remove this item from the list. 

Item #10 – Statute of Limitation on Sex Offenders.  Mr. Osborne researched this item and said that he felt it should be removed because there is no time restriction – there is no statute of limitation.

Moved by Mr. Osborne, seconded by Ms. LaVigne, and it carried unanimously to remove this item from the list and to study it more. 

Item #14 – School Funding Sources. Chairman Tobias said that we don’t have much discussion on this item, most of us decided that this was important.  Is there a motion to include this? 

Moved by Ms. Vary, seconded by Mr. Osborne, to keep this item on the list.  Discussion followed.  Ms. Vary said that this goes to the core about a lot of the taxes that we have been talking about tonight.  If there were a different way of funding this than just property tax, there would be more people sharing the load of it. 

Mr. Wiegand said that he is opposed to this item because the recommendations of the Education Funding Advisory Board (EFAB), including a recommendation to spend an additional $1.8 billion per year, exceeded the limited authority assigned to EFAB by the legislature.  Allowing parents the opportunity to shop the public and private school market with an amount of funds equal to the foundation level would solve many of the inefficiencies inherent in the way government spends $8.8 billion annually on primary and secondary education in Illinois. 

The committee agreed to change the wording on the Action section to read: “Support alternative funding options.”

It was carried to include this item on the agenda.  Mr. Wiegand voted no.

Item # 15 – Court Interpreter Service Fee.  Moved by Ms. Vary, seconded by Mr. Osborne and it was carried to include this item on the agenda list.  Mr. Wiegand voted vote.

Item #16:  Ability to increase county fuel tax to support county road maintenance.  Chairman Tobias said that it is a tool to provide flexibility for the county, we are not asking for the right to institute the tax at this time, just the right to be allowed to have a referendum on it in the future.  At this time, the right to have a referendum is limited to a small set of metropolitan counties in Illinois.  Mr. Bockman asked to add “construction” in the Topic.  Chairman Tobias continued by reading the issue that states, “As county populations grow, use of the roads increases, requiring higher maintenance costs. DeKalb County would like to have the legislation amended to allow it to support a referendum on increases of up to .4 cents per gallon of gasoline sold in the county to provide extra funding for these costs.”    Mr. Bockman said that there is a population threshold and that this would be available by referendum only. We are seeking to amend it so that they would drop the population threshold. 

Moved by Ms. Vary, seconded by Ms. LaVigne, and it was carried to include this item in the agenda.  Mr. Wiegand voted no.

Item #17:  Funding for Mental Health Care and Public Health Services.   Ms. LaVigne said that she was assigned this item to research.  She said that Mr. Jerry Lane, Director of the Mental Health Department for DeKalb County, faxed a one-page suggested submittal for this item.  After discussion was held it was moved by Ms. Vary, seconded by Mr. Osborne, and it was carried to include Mr. Lane’s submittal as presented and include it in the agenda.  Mr. Wiegand voted no.

Chairman Tobias then informed the committee that notices and invitations will be going out to all department heads, county board members and legislators for the upcoming legislative breakfast scheduled for February 7, 2003.  She will write the letters and Ms. Supple will distribute them.

ADJOURNMENT

Moved by Mr. Wiegand, seconded by Ms. Vary, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting. 

Respectively submitted,

______________________________
                                                                             Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias

______________________________
Mary C. Supple, Secretary