Financial discussions take over BOH meeting

Sheet of US one hundred dollar bills, elevated view

By Kathryn Menue
Editor
BOONE COUNTY – On Monday, Feb. 29, the Boone County Board of Health met at noon with discussions focusing on finances.
First up on the agenda, was a presentation from Dana Northcott, the Executive Director for Economic Development District of Northern Illinois (EDDNI).
EDDNI specializes in collaborating with local organizations to find organizations grants to apply for and then aiding them in the writing proposal process for such grants.
EDDNI has access to private databases that post grants most organizations wouldn’t have knowledge of. EDDNI also could categorize a list of grants that are actually worth pursuing, rather than the Health Department spending numerous hours on a grant that they wouldn’t have a chance of receiving.
Northcott proposed that, if the Health Department wanted to use EDDNI’s services, they would pay $80 per hour for EDDNI’s services, with the amount only stretching until they reach a $5,000 limit, so as not to overburden the Health Department’s finances.
However, if they Health Department signed up for this contract, they would only have to pay for EDDNI when they used their services.
“If you use us, you pay us, if you don’t, then you don’t,” Northcott said.
The Board of Health took Northcott’s proposal under advisement, remarking EDDNI’s services could come in handy for an EPA grant they are interested in pursuing and decided to discuss the matter further at their April 4 meeting.
Another financial topic the board addressed concerned approving $5,650 to be used toward roof repairs for the Health Department building that has had issues with leaking.
The board approved the revenue be taken out of their capital expense funds.
Financial concerns soon moved to non-profit organizations, with Boone County Board member Cathy Ward reading a letter to the Board of Health advocating that the board say “no” to charging non-profit organizations permit fees along with asking the board to refund non-profit organizations, like VFW Post 1461 and the Belvidere Moose Lodge, for the fees they’ve already paid.
Later on in the meeting, VFW Post 1461 Commander Greg Kelm furthered the discussion for non-profit organizations being charged permit fees.
Commander Kelm said that the VFW is being charged $470 a year in permit and processing fees, when it should not be paying permit fees at all, since it is classified as a tax exempt organization.
Plus, Commander Kelm queried as to why the VFW pays so much in fees, whereas other non-profit organizations, like the American Legion, pay only $20 a year.
Therefore, Commander Kelm requested on behalf of the VFW that VFW Post 1461 be reimbursed the money of their permit fees since Kelm took over as Commander in 2008.
“Your fees don’t make any sense,” Commander Kelm said. “All I’m asking is that you have consistency. If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t be asking for the money back.”
Health Department Director Bill Hatfield said that the VFW is charged so much, compared to other organizations, because it is listed in the high risk category, where their facility must be inspected three times a year and the permit fees are collected to pay for these inspection costs. Plus, the Health Department only provides permit fee waivers for E-tax and 501©3 organizations.
However, Commander Kelm said that the American Legion, who is exempt from permit fees, is not an E-tax or a 501©3 organization. They are a 501©19 organization.
In addition, Commander Kelm provided the board with information from the county code stating that all non-profit organizations are exempt from such charges.
The Board of Health then advised that Commander Kelm, along with any other organizations that wish to take their permit fees under advisement of the board, submit a letter asking for a refund, which should be directed to the Health Department, which the department would put under review for their next meeting on April 4.
“We will be happy to entertain that,” Board of Health Vice President Jim Cox said.
The Board of Health also said that the Boone County Board would need to redefine what organizations would be classified as a non-profit, so the Health Department would know which organizations would be exempt from permit fees.