The Public Services Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Monday, May 3, 2004, @ 6:30p.m. in the Administration Building’s Conference Room East.  Chairman Marlene Allen called the meeting to order.  Members present were Eric Johnson, Pat LaVigne, Richard Osborne and Robert Rosemier.  Members absent were Eileen Dubin, Steve Faivre, Julia Fullerton and Sue Leifheit.  Others present were Ray Bockman, Adrian Duelser of River Valley Workforce Investment Act Board, Margaret Whitwell, Sharon Holmes, Margaret Whitwell and Ken Johnson.   

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES 

Mr. Rosemier amended the minutes by stating that in the first section, on page 1, under Senior Services Tax Levy Hearings, the money amount should equal $18,000.00 not $10,000.00.   Also, on the last page of the minutes, towards the top of the page, Mr. Rosemier said that the committee did not discuss the Health Department or the budget process and would like to have that part removed from the minutes.  The committee directed Ms. Supple to check with Ms. Sanderson, who recorded the minutes for that evening, and see if that statement was made.         

Moved by Mr. Rosemier, seconded by Mr. Johnson, and it was carried unanimously to approve the amended April 2004 minutes.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA 

Moved by Mr. Rosemier, seconded by Ms. LaVigne, and it was carried unanimously to approve the agenda. 

PUBLIC DEFENDER’S REPORT

Mr. Ken Johnson, DeKalb County Public Defender, said that he has seen more serious offenses in the last six months here in DeKalb County.  He explained that the Judges, the State’s Attorney’s Office and his office have been trying to think up ways to expedite cases through the court system this last month.  This way they can try to reduce the number of inmates in the jail.  He also said that he recently met with Chairman Sands, Judge Klein, the State's Attorney, the Clerk and the Sheriff regarding the jail and he felt the meetings were very productive. 

Mr. Johnson then informed the committee that there have been a rash of sexual assault cases in the county recently.  He continued by stating that the State Legislature has mandated another sentencing requirement for sexual assault type cases. If someone is charged with sexual assault type case, prior to any sentencing, agreed or not, the Defendant must have a sex offender evaluation completed by an expert.  The fees range from $900-$2,000 depending on the complexity.  This additional fee was not budgeted. His office currently has about 15 defendants that have been charged with offenses requiring evaluations.  He has been working with Judge Klein, Judge Stuckert and the State's Attorney's Office to figure out how to minimize the expense created by this new mandate.   

COURT SERVICES REPORT 

Ms. Margi Gilmour, Court Services Director, said that her Adult Court Services Report remains consistent with the previous months. The first S.W.A.P. Program for adults will take place in the beginning of May and include 27 adults. Ms. Gilmour further explained that the 1^st Juvenile S.W.A.P. Program took place in April.  They had approximately 20 kids and that it went very well.

In her Juvenile Court Services Report there is still one female in Focus House doing their program.  Focus House staff will determine when she is ready to be released not Ms. Gilmour’s staff.   Out of the 17 juveniles detained in her report, 1 was for 2 times and the one highlighted for 19 times is currently in the Department of Corrections.  Out of the 17 detained juveniles, 5 were for the 1^st time, 1 for the 2^nd time; 3 for the 4^th ; 3 for the 5^th; 1 for the 6^th; 2 for the 7^th; 1 for the 8^th and 1 for the 19^th. 

Ms. Gilmour then explained that they just held their last DNA blood draw and that 70 felons had blood drawn.  Her staff will do the swab testing from now on.  How much savings there is with implementing the swab test versus the blood draw is around $15 a defendant.

Ms. Gilmour further informed the committee that Judge Klein and her office have begun looking for funding for their 2^nd Summer Camp, which will begin in June.  Sycamore Park has agreed to be their new site for this year.

APPOINTMENT OF ELECTION JUDGES RESOLUTION      

Ms. Sharon Holmes, DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder, presented a list of Democrat and Republican election judges in a resolution to the committee this evening for adoption at the May County Board Meeting.  She said that she will set a court date for anyone who has a question about the list of names; and then she will publish it in the public notices.  Mr. Johnson asked, “Who decides how many election judges are at each polling place?”  Ms. Holmes said that 5 judges are usually present, that is 2 from 1 party and 3 from the other party.  She has never had a full amount of election judges however. 

          Moved by Mr. Rosemier, seconded by Mr. Osborne, and it was carried unanimously to recommend the resolution to the full board for approval.  

RIVER VALLEY WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT BOARD UPDATE 

          Mr. Adrian Duesler, Business and Marketing Director for the River Valley Workforce Investment Act Board, updated the committee on their past year’s accomplishments and duties.  He said that 51% of their board is from the economic development professions.  They help to monitor the monies that come in for the programs.  They consist of a 9-county Workforce Group with common problems.  Some of those problems consist of manufacturing, health care, transportation, warehousing and logistics.  There are critical shortages in these fields (see handout attached to these minutes).  He said that the value of this board and one-stop centers is that the funding for programs and services comes from their board.  There is proactive communication of workforce analysis and information that will impact the economy.  They help employers with hiring, training and downsizing activities.  The value to employees and job seekers is that they have access to job opportunities and it enhances their skills with training. 

He said that they would like to begin working with the Chamber of  Commerce in the City of DeKalb and elsewhere in the County.  He continued with an example, stating that because of the large population of Hispanics that need to work in the City of Aurora, their Chamber of Commerce and River Valley worked on resource materials to be bilingual; they were able to get various public agencies to donate a community center and funds to help make this program work. 

Mr. Bockman said that looking at the report ( page 2, bottom right ) under Activity @ DeKalb I.E.T.C. - it shows that there was an average of 550 job seekers served per month.  He felt that it was a very large number.  Mr. Duesler said that that number reflects sometimes 2 or 3 visits a month made by the same person(s). 

The committee thanked Mr. Duesler for presenting his very informative report to them this evening.

SUPERVISOR OF ASSESSMENT 2003 ANNUAL REPORT 

Ms. Margaret Whitwell, DeKalb County Supervisor of Assessments, presented her 2003 Annual Report to the committee ( on file in the County Board Office and the Assessments Office).  She said that in 2003 there was more new construction then ever before.  They created 2000 new parcels in the county because of that activity.  The assessed value increased to over $1.6 billion. 

The year 2003 was a quadrennial year where all property in the County must be physically viewed and reassessed where necessary.  There were a large number of changes and all assessments were published this year.  The number of subdivisions platted in 2003 increased from 61 in 2002 to 90 in 2003.  The median per acre sale price of bare farmland in DeKalb County in 2003 was $5,250 (this value does not include farmland purchased for development).

          Ms. Whitwell also said that the complaints filed in 2003 were down and Certificates of Errors were also down.  There were 1166 parcels in the County that were less than $150 in assessed value.  Because of this is she has to assess it as farmland because of the Preferential Assessment Statute.  When it is first subdivided, for example, after the first year and the first home is built on it, she then can increase the assessment.  She said that on page 12 it shows that there were 733.72 of farmland subdivided last year.  Of that number 706.39 acres were residential lots and 27.33 were for commercial lots.

          Ms. Whitwell said that the Senior Exemptions are pro-rated now, which is new.  This exemption is available to seniors, 65 and older, who live in and own (or have a legal interest) their home.  This exemption is worth $2000 off the assessed value of their property.  Depending on the tax rate, this could represent an approximate property tax savings of $130 to $190. 

          Ms. Whitwell, further explained that the total number of exemptions filed last year equaled $93 million in assessed value.  This figure comes off of the assessed value, she reminded the committee. 

          In the Mapping Department last year, they processed 4,413 deed.  They made files of every page of their maps and put them on the Internet for everyone to use. 

          Ms. Whitwell then informed the committee that there will be some elections in the township assessor’s offices this year.  It is not easy to fill these spots.  They are elected in April and then seated in office the 1^st of January the following year. 

          The committee thanked Ms. Whitwell for her very informative report, as usual.

SENIOR SERVICES TAX LEVY REVIEW 

          Mr. Rosemier asked for this item to be on the agenda to discuss and review last month’s senior services tax levy hearings.  He thought that the hearings were a lot smoother than prior years and that he liked the implementation of only asking questions of the applicants (agencies). 

He also commented on the fact that he would like the committee members to try and follow Roberts Rules of Order and that after a motion is made that if there can be discussion then let there be discussion and not move to adjourn so quickly.  He wanted to review some points that evening and was unable to. He feels that the Chairman should always be able to hear questions after a motion is made. 

Mr. Rosemier feels that next year when the committee needs someone to write down the numbers on the chalkboard that he suggests that Ms. Olson does it since he would like to have been able to take part in the discussion instead of concentrating on writing numbers on the chalkboard. 

          Mr. Rosemier then pointed out that under the Opportunity House section of the hearing, he felt that in the discussion and questions raised that there appeared a conflict in who is supplying transport for them – Opportunity House staff or VAC?  He also mentioned that they did not supply their financial report to the committee on time or to Ms. Olson.  It was not given to her until the evening of the public hearings, which is wrong because all of the other agencies turned their reports in on time to Ms. Olson.  The committee discussed whether or not those agencies that do not turn in a copy of their financial reports on time to Ms. Olson should even be considered for monies.  They also discussed that we might want to give them better instructions as to what should be included in their financials.  

Mr. Bockman said that he just wanted to make one comment and that would be that he would not like us to get rid of the audited financial reports.  It is a screen that we decided to use at the inception of this process, he further stated.  Maybe what this committee should do is direct staff to certify that they have received the financials from each agency prior to the hearings next year. 

ADJOURNMENT 

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

                                                          Respectfully submitted,

 

 

                                                          _____________________
                                                          Marlene Allen, Chairman

_________________________________
Mary C. Supple, Secretary