|
Logan County Board
Logan County Board Committee Meetings
Safety, Executive & Personnel, Finance
[May 06, 2026]
On Tuesday, May 5th, three
committees of the Logan County Board held their monthly meetings
back-to-back. The committees were Safety, Executive & Personnel, and
Finance. All three meetings were held in the first-floor courtroom
of the Logan County Courthouse. The Safety meeting was scheduled to
start at 5:30 p.m., with Executive & Personnel at 6:00 and Finance
at 6:30.
The Safety meeting was canceled due to a lack of a quorum, or the
minimum number of members needed for the meeting to be held.
Chairman Kevin Knauer was present, with Lance Conahan coming late.
Vice Chairman Kathy Schmidt, as well as Bob Sanders and James Glenn
were not in attendance.
At 6:00, the Executive and Personnel meeting was called to order.
Three of the five members were present, Chairman Dale Nelson, Vice
Chairman Gil Turner, and Lance Conahan. Knauer left after the Safety
meeting and was not present, and Glenn was not in attendance. Other
board members, Joseph Kuhlman and Hannah Fitzpatrick, were in
attendance, but are not members of this committee.
Nelson started the meeting with an introduction of guests and a vote
on the previous month’s minutes, which were approved. With no items
on the agenda under old business, Nelson moved the committee on to
the four items under new business.
The first item was labeled “E3i Ventures proposal. It was explained
that this was a request to the county board for the company to set
up a tent near Atlanta to sell fireworks. This tent would be set up
from June 10th to July 10th. The committee approved this request,
meaning it will be sent on to the Workshop meeting for consideration
by the full board.
The second item was a raffle request from the Atlanta Public Library
& Museum Foundation, which was quickly approved. The third item was
regarding three trustee appointments to the Beason-Chestnut Public
Water District. These three appointees were Jeff Chandler, David
Awe, and Steve Hyde. These appointments were all approved as well.
The final item on the list was
listed as “ordinance review.” Dayton Keyes, who attended the
previous night’s Zoning and Economic Development Committee meeting,
was back with the same ordinance he proposed the night before. In
short, his proposed ordinance would require all large projects
coming to Logan County be put up for public referendum, or public
vote. According to a copy of the proposed ordinance that was
provided to LDN, this would be for projects in excess of ten million
dollars, consuming more than 50 megawatts of electricity, or larger
than 50 acres.
Nelson provided Keyes with a form to fill out, stating that he was
unaware of the form in the previous night’s meeting. It was
explained that, once Keyes filled out the form and returned it to
the County Board Office, it could be put on the agenda for the
Zoning and Economic Development meeting in June.
Keyes made one other comment, stating that he sent an email to
Fitzpatrick, and it was not received. Upon sending another one,
however, it was received. He asked the board members to check their
spam, as if it happened to him, Keyes reasoned, it may have happened
to others. There were no public comments, so the meeting was
adjourned.
The Finance meeting followed, with four of the five members of that
committee being present. While Chairman Kathy Schmidt was absent,
Vice Chairman Joseph Kuhlman, Dale Nelson, Keenan Leesman, and Lance
Conahan were all present. As with the previous meeting, guests were
introduced and the previous month’s minutes being approved.
There was one item on the agenda under old business regarding county
insurance. Conahan explained that this was workman’s comp. liability
insurance. He stated that the county’s current provider, Connecticut
Interlocal Risk Management Agency (CIRMA), was sent a notice that
the county was going to go out for a bid on the insurance. For this
to occur, the county needed their previous request for proposal
(RFP), which, according to Conahan, they were trying to locate.
Kuhlman, who was leading the meeting in Chairman Schmidt’s absence,
then moved the committee on to the three items under new business.
The first was a fund that was created by Logan County Treasurer
Penny Thomas for the office of Logan County Clerk and Recorder
Theresa Moore. Moore explained that it was brought to her attention
that, of each $15 the county charges for copies of documents like
birth or marriage certificates, her office was entitled to keep $2.
This was not being done, and so Thomas created an account for this
amount to be kept track of. The item on the agenda was simply to let
the county know this had been done and why. The committee accepted
the fund and the explanation.
The next item was regarding salaries for the newly elected
Treasurer, County Clerk, and Sheriff. Nelson explained that he
wanted to keep the salaries the same, which were currently set at
$75,000. Nelson stated he wanted to have cost of living adjustment
(COLA) increases of two percent each of the four years they were in
office.
Conahan pushed back on this,
stating that he took issue with the salaries of the newly elected
officials being so high. Conahan argued that, with the benefit
package that the county provided, the elected officials were
currently costing the county around $90,000 each. He called the
amounts “offensive” to those leaving the office that those following
them would be making the same amount or more than they made.
[to top of second column] |
Nelson argued that
while some companies have pay ranges, the county does not for
these positions. He stated that the county cannot use the fact
that the elected officials are new as reasoning to lower the
amount the county pays them. Conahan argued back that, when he
starts a new position, he does not expect to start at the amount
that the person before him was making. He stated that the
county’s salaries being so high are a liability to the county.
Leesman then asked Thomas how the previous county board handled
these situations. Thomas explained that it was not good,
describing the meetings as a “battle” to get increases in
salary. She stated that they would have to find the salaries of
other elected officials at similar sized counties to drive home
their point of needing pay increases. Leesman then reminded the
committee that it is the board that decides what to set the
salaries at, stating that he thought both Nelson and Conahan
were correct. As for the Sheriff, Leesman stated that was an
amount set by the state.
Thomas then explained that the committee needed to vote on
something this month, as the base salary amount would need to be
posted 180 days before the new elected officials took office
June 1st.
Nelson made a motion to set the salary for the new incoming
elected officials at $75,000 with two percent COLA increases,
and it was seconded. Conahan made an amendment to lower that
amount to $65,500. No one seconded the amendment, so it failed.
Leesman then made an amendment to set the salary at $70,000.
That was also not seconded and failed. A vote was then taken on
Nelson’s original motion at $75,000. The vote was 2-2, with
Conahan and Leesman both voting ‘no.’ With no majority this
motion failed.
Leesman made a motion for the base salary to be $70,000, plus
four years of COLA increases, setting the salary at $75,774.70.
It was explained that this amount needed to be frozen, and so
the COLA increases were added at the start. This would mean that
the $75,774.70 salary would be the amount for the four years of
the elected official’s term.
Before a vote was taken, Conahan asked Thomas what a county
employee costs to the county. Thomas explained that this was
difficult to say, as everyone makes different amounts. Conahan
asked her not to consider salaries, but just other amounts like
insurance. She again stated that this was “almost impossible”
due to everything being percentage based. Conahan then asked
where the money would be coming from, to which Nelson explained
that this would be a part of the budget for the next fiscal
year.
A vote was then taken, with the motion being passed 3-1. Conahan
was the only ‘no’ vote.
The final item on the agenda was in reference to the RFP the
county is looking for to go out for a bid on their worker’s comp
liability insurance. Since this was discussed earlier, Kuhlman
simply moved the meeting on to public comments.
There was a question from Andrea Hinton, who was in the
audience. She wanted to know why the newly elected officials
were going to make as much as the previous officials. She argued
that “people don’t walk in making what someone retired at,” and
that they need to earn their money. She argued that they need to
do increases each year, rather than setting them at a higher
salary from the start.
Nelson responded that this was not possible, with Conahan
explaining that it is set by state statute. Once an elected
county official’s salary is set, it cannot be touched for the
four years of their term. Thomas then explained that this was
not the case, arguing that it can be adjusted, with Nelson
stating that he was not aware of that.
Upon research by LDN, according to the Illinois Constitution, an
elected official’s salary cannot be adjusted during their term.
Article VII, Section 9(b) of the Illinois Constitution states,
“an increase or decrease in the salary of an elected officer of
any unit of local government shall not take effect during the
term for which that officer is elected.”
There was then some back and forth between Hinton and Nelson.
Hinton continued to ask questions and Nelson stated that he had
already been clear about the answers.
Moore added that she did not find the salary increase for the
new officials offensive. She explained that she and Thomas know
how difficult running their departments are.
Another commenter wanted to know where the money to provide this
pay increase was going to come from, asking if it was in a bank
account. Nelson stated that it was, to which the commenter
stated he would like to see the bank account. Nelson said that
it is online in Logan County’s budget. The commenter stated that
the board would be “raising taxes again.” Nelson asked when
their taxes were increased, stating that the county had not
increased taxes in over four years. He continued, stating that
due to an Illinois law, school districts can raise their taxes
by five percent each year without needing to hold a vote, while
Logan County had lowered their taxes by 0.02 percent. This,
Nelson argued, is why people keep seeing their property taxes go
up. He then stated, “educate yourself, then you can come back
and challenge.” Kuhlman attempted to move the meeting on, but
Nelson made a statement about people believing “whatever
Facebook tells them.”
The back and forth continued for a bit
longer, with the commenter calling the taxes “insane” before Nelson
again argued the case of that not being a result of county board
actions. Kuhlman again entertained a motion to adjourn which was
made and seconded.
[Matt Boutcher] |
