Chambana Sun

Vermilion County Tax and Elections Committee met Tuesday, Jan. 3.

Here are the minutes as provided by Vermilion County:

Tax and Elections Committee Tuesday, January 3, 2017; 4:30 PM County Board Annex, Rm 319

MINUTES

Agenda Item 1 - Call to Order and Roll Call Acting Committee Chairman Morse called the meeting to order at 4:33 PM on Tuesday, January 3, 2017. Upon the call of roll, the following members were present: Nancy O’Kane, Tom Morse, Chuck Mockbee, Joe Eakle, Crisi Walls, John Criswell. Cari West-Monson was absent and excused and expected to arrive late. 6 present, 1 absent. Also attending the meeting were: Dave Stone, County Recorder of Deeds; Matt Long, County Assessor; Bill Donahue, Civil Attorney; and Amie Harvey, Administrative Assistant.

Agenda Item 2 - Adoption/Amendments to Agenda Chuck Mockbee moved to adopt the agenda and a second was made by Joe Eakle. Motion passed by acclamation.

Agenda Item 3 - Approval of Minutes for the Previous Meeting, September 6, 2016 Chuck Mockbee moved to approve the minutes as presented, second was made by Crisi Walls. Motion passed by acclamation.

Agenda Item 4 - Audience Comments There were none.

Agenda Item 5 – Election of Committee Chairperson and Vice Chairperson Crisi Walls nominated Tom Morse for Committee Chairman, seconded by Chuck Mockbee. Upon the call of roll, the following members voted yes, to-wit: Nancy O’Kane, Joe Eakle, Crisi Walls, Chuck Mockbee, John Criswell. 5 yes, 1 absent, 1 abstain.

Joe Eakle nominated Chuck Mockbee for Vice Chairman, seconded by Tom Morse. Crisi Walls nominated Joe Eakle for Vice Chairman; Joe Eakle declined the nomination. Upon the call of roll, the following members voted yes, to-wit: Nancy O’Kane, Joe Eakle, Crisi Walls, Tom Morse, John Criswell. 5 yes, 1 absent, 1 abstain.

Agenda Item 6 – Department Orientations – Elected Officials Matt Long, County Assessor, introduced himself. He stated that the Supervisor of Assessments office has recently implemented a new data system, called Dev Net. This was an improvement from a system that had been in use for around 25 years. He hopes the Board of Review would be done meeting by the end of the month. He said the biggest misconception of his position is that he is ranked above Township Assessors, although they are elected in the same manner his County Assessor position is. In the next year, he would like to do a county-wide assessment with all Township Assessors for more uniformity with the new system.

He opened the floor to questions. Nancy O’Kane asked how many individuals were on staff in his office and what their positions were or if they were assessors – he said 6 or 7, none of whom are required to be certified assessors. He said most work is clerical. His office also includes the Board of Review. The Board of Review is elected, the current Board is Bob Huffman, Jay Fruhling, and Amanda Shepherd. Discussion ensued. He offered his assistance if anyone has questions at any time, stating that constituents can even call the Supervisor of Assessment’s office for help understanding exemptions on tax bills or other items of information.

Dave Stone, County Recorder, spoke next. He explained that the County Recorder’s job is to record land transactions and keep documents for military such as discharge papers (DD-214). He explained people are vulnerable to fraudulent documents and clouded filing, enabling criminals to actually steal property by having names changed on a document. He said this is the largest “white-collar” crime today. His goal as recorder was to protect the residents of Vermilion County to avoid issues such as this one. Now there is an ordinance that allows his office to recognize and retain fraudulent or clouded titles and pass them on to the Circuit Court, which will relieve the original land owner from the responsibility of paying fraudulent charges.

He explained that his office had 3 employees including a Chief Deputy Recorder. The records in this office go back to 1826 – even including discharge papers for some Civil War veterans.

He asked if there were questions. Discussion ensued. He explained that his office was sustained by both the general fund and revenue that came from fees to receive recorded files online.

Cari West-Monson arrived during the orientations.

Agenda Item 7 - Items of Information or Committee Concerns Nancy O’Kane asked what departments were under the Tax and Elections Committee as a “parent committee.” This includes the Recorder, Supervisor of Assessments & Board of Review, Election Commission, and County Clerk.

Agenda Item 8 - Executive Session Not necessary.

Agenda Item 9 - Adjournment Committee Chairman Morse adjourned the meeting at 5:21 PM as the agenda had been completed.

Minutes by: Amie Harvey, Administrative Assistant