IBEW Local 146 (Decatur IL) Member runs for Macon County (IL) Board

Macon County Board candidates focus on financial matters
By RON INGRAM and STEPHANIE POTTER - H&R Staff Writers

DECATUR - Macon County's financial future is the all-consuming issue for candidates seeking county board seats in the Nov. 2 general election.

None of the candidates profess to have all the answers to the county's long-term financial woes created by increasing costs and $2.8 million in internal loans that must be repaid.

Those problems could worsen in the fiscal year that begins Dec. 1 in the face of cuts in real estate tax revenue caused by changes in state law adopted this year by the legislature that could cost the county's general fund, or main operating fund, about $100,000.

Races exist in three of the seven board districts: 1, 5 and 7. Democrats hold 13 of 21 board seats and are unlikely to lose their majority this year because too few Republicans are challenging incumbents in "safe" Democratic districts.

County GOP Chairman John L. Davis acknowledges that deficit.

"We can't take the board this time, but we can cut down on the Democrats' majority," Davis said. "If Ed Yoder wins in District 7 and we take two District 1 seats, that would result in an 11 to 10 split."

In District 1, incumbent Democrats David Livingston and Gordon Brenner are challenged by former Republican board member Linda Little and GOP newcomer Bruce Logan. The district has proven to be a swing district in the past, electing candidates from both parties.

County officeholders and department heads are doing a good job of cooperating with the board on efforts to hold the line on spending, Livingston said. Board members need to make sure they are doing the right thing, but when a decision is made they can't really be certain it is the right one, he said.

"We did the right thing at the right time by working to get the law enforcement sales tax passed," Livingston said. "I want to make sure we do what we said we would do, shore up the sheriff's office financially. We said if there was money left over, we would spend it on other departments. But those other departments must relate to law enforcement."

Brenner said when the law enforcement sales tax was adopted two years ago, the sheriff's office at first said it would need about $1 million to rebuild the office after layoffs as a result of the county's budget crisis. The tax is bringing in about $2.1 million annually.

"I wanted to tell the public we only needed half the amount - present it that way - and have the other half for the general fund," Brenner said. "Other board members and people pushing the tax didn't see it that way."

Other offices have had huge budget cuts besides the sheriff's office, Brenner said.

"In the budget process we're mirroring last year when we started with a deficit," Brenner said. "We should go through the budget line by line. Officeholders want the same amount they got last year. If we cut some funds, we're penalizing the officeholders for doing a good job holding the line.

"I can't see where we can make any progress on repaying borrowed funds without (budget) cuts. We may have to go back to the drawing board and start the budget process again. We have to show the taxpayers some good faith effort. People have been too patient with us on this."

Logan noted the fiscal 2005 budget will be completed before newly elected board members take office, but he remains concerned with how the law enforcement sales tax money will be spent, particularly the idea that the coroner's office and the Emergency Services and Disaster Agency be funded entirely with tax money.

"It's not the best move to put the coroner and other offices under the tax," Logan said. "They will have to be moved back to the general fund eventually."

The safety tax was sold as a tax to support the sheriff's office and should be used there, with general fund money now going to the sheriff distributed to other offices, Logan said.

Logan said he has more than 20 years' experience in information technology and believes he can find ways to use such technology to reduce the need to add employees.

"The first thing I'd look at is how to cut costs without cutting jobs," Logan said.

Little, who served on the board from 1994 to 1996 and again in 2002, said there are no easy solutions to the county's debt.

"It's going to be a progression of small, hard decisions," she said. "It's got to be a lot of "nos" when (officeholders) come and ask for money and that's hard to do, but it needs to be done."

Little also believes debt repayment should be a priority for the board, with the board first setting up a plan to pay back the $865,000 the county borrowed from its pension fund, as the state is demanding. She said progress will be slow, but she hopes that in two years, board members can tell the public they have made some strides.

In District 5, GOP incumbent Phillip Hogan faces Democratic challenger Kenneth Wayne Hayes.

Hayes, an unemployed union electrician, said the county should make encouraging economic development a priority.

"A lot of jobs are created at $7 an hour, $7.50 an hour," he said. Hayes said he wants to see the county spend taxpayer money in Macon County whenever possible. Like many others running for the board, he said there are no quick solutions to the county's financial problems, but the county does have an obligation to pay back its debts.

"I do know you have to live within your means," he said. "It's kind of like me living on unemployment."

Hayes said he's running for the board because he thinks his perspective can be helpful.

"I try to look at things from a Democratic viewpoint," he said. "I know Republicans look at it from a Republican viewpoint, and I try to work with people to find a middle ground for both of us."

Hayes favors the proposed tax to fund services for senior citizens, while Hogan opposes it. Hogan said the county's debt is the main issue facing it. He said a proposed disaster fund to be created out of public safety sales tax money would be better spent paying down the debt.

"As far as I'm concerned we don't need a disaster fund," he said. "We've got a disaster fund, and our disaster fund is our debt."

Hogan believes all the revenue from the safety sales tax should go to the sheriff's office, with some of the revenue the sheriff typically receives from the general fund being offset.

He also favors the creation of an elected, full-time county board chairman and a cutting of the board from 21 to 14 members, which he said would improve efficiency. And he believes the county should revisit the idea of tax caps that would limit increases in property tax extensions to 5 percent annually or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.

In District 7, GOP incumbent Edward Yoder faces Democratic challenger Ryan Marucco.

Yoder agreed with many others that the primary issue facing the county is its finances. While he feels the public safety sales tax should be used primarily for the sheriff's office, he said he would support the idea of offsetting some of the sheriff's general fund revenue to help pay back the debt.

In general, Yoder opposes new taxes, including the proposed tax to pay for services for senior citizens because he thinks it will result in duplication of services.

"We just have to do with less," he said. "We can't keep asking the public to pay more taxes, more taxes."

Yoder also wants to see a simplified, updated zoning ordinance for the county. He supports preserving prime farmland, but wants to encourage development as well. He said current confusion over the county's zoning ordinances only discourages people from building in Macon County.

Marucco said the internal loans are an issue that will continue to plague the board until they are repaid. He said he also is studying the issue of spending the safety tax money.

"People I talk to in the community want it all to go to the sheriff's office," Marucco said. "But the Emergency Management and Disaster Agency is important, too. They were on the scene with the Formosa plant explosion. It will take me some time to decide what to do."

Marucco said the county should pay someone to write federal grant applications to tap into any funds available for county services or to enhance building projects.

"That way we would not be raising people's taxes every year," Marucco said.

Candidate Profiles

David Livingston

Age: 69

Residence: Decatur

Party: Democrat

Education: Graduate, Stephen Decatur High School, with six hours of college credit.

Experience: Served six years on county board, resigning in 1997 when he moved out of his district. Re-elected to the board in 2000. Appointed a Decatur Township trustee, 1998 to 2000, to fill vacancy created by the death of his wife, Alice.

Occupation: Retired equal employment opportunity officer, Archer Daniels Midland Co.

Family: Wife, Donna; sons, Malcolm, 32, and David, 36.

Gordon Brenner

Age: 57

Residence: Decatur

Party: Democrat

Education: Graduate, Stephen Decatur High School, two years of college at Joliet Community College through apprenticeship program at Caterpillar Inc.

Experience: Elected to county board in 2002; Decatur Township highway commissioner since 2000; chairman, Macon County Veterans Assistance Commission; Illinois commander, Order of the Purple Heart.

Occupation: Owner, Brenner Vending (snacks and candy).

Family: Wife, Diane; son, Brandon, 31, and daughter, Shannon, 28.

Bruce Logan

Age: 51

Residence: Decatur

Party: Republican

Education: Graduate, Purdue University, with degree in agronomy; Wright College, certificate in data processing.

Occupation: Senior information auditor, Archer Daniels Midland Co. Internal Audit Department since July; prior to that was an operator, programmer and director in the company's information technology operations where he spent 20 years.

Family: Single.

Linda Little

Age: 42

Residence: Decatur

Party: Republican

Education: Graduate, Stephen Decatur High School

Occupation: Part-time secretary for Central United Methodist Church

Experience: Former Macon County board member, 1994-1996 and 2002, vice chair of finance and personnel committees, on board of directors for Decatur-Macon County Opportunities Corp., 1994-1996 and 2002, assistant to the Macon County Board chairman, 1996-1998

Family: Husband, Thomas, children Zachary, 20, Amy, 18, Benjamin, 16, Hannah, 13

Phillip J. Hogan

Age: 49

Residence: Dalton City

Education: Graduate, Mount Zion High School

Occupation: Self-employed farmer

Experience: Mount Zion Township Supervisor, 1985-1989; 18 years on the Macon County Board

Family: Wife. Jeanne, children Kathryn, 25, Nicole, 15, Jessica, 12, Jack, 2, and one on the way

Kenneth Hayes

Age: 57

Residence: Macon

Education: Graduate, Stephen Decatur High School

Occupation: Union electrician, now unemployed

Experience: Executive board member for IBEW Local 146, four terms; South Macon Democratic precinct committeeman, three terms; South Macon Fire Department trustee, 2004

Family: Wife, Donna, son Brian, 32

Ed Yoder

Age: 54

Residence: Oakley (lives in Long Creek Township)

Party: Republican

Education: Graduate, Mount Zion High School, associate's degree in agricultural from Lake Land University, bachelor's degree in agricultural from Illinois State University

Occupation: Farmer

Experience: Macon County board member, 4 years, Long Creek Township Assessor, 11 years, served in the U.S. Marine Corps, honorably discharged

Family: Wife Cheryl, son Edward Duane, 28, daughter Laura, 33

Ryan Marucco

Age: 21

Residence: Decatur

Party: Democrat

Education: Graduate, Mount Zion High School

Experience: Worked part-time for Secretary of State in Decatur drivers license facility; precinct committeeman since 2002.

Occupation: Student, expects to graduate in May from Illinois State University with bachelor's degree in political science and a minor in sociology.

Family: Single

Stephanie Potter can be reached at spotter@;herald-review.com or 421-7984.