City of Urbana Cunningham Township Board met June 3

By Michael Abella

Aug 5, 2019

City of Urbana Cunningham Township Board met June 3.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

The Cunningham Township Board met in Regular session Monday, June 3, 2019 at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers at the Urbana City Building, 400 S. Vine Street, Urbana, Illinois.

ELECTED OFFICIALS PHYSICALLY PRESENT:

Chair: Diane Wolfe Marlin

Trustees: Dean Hazen; Shirese Hursey; Eric Jakobsson; Jared Miller; Dennis Roberts; Maryalice Wu

Town Clerk: Charles A. Smyth

Supervisor: Danielle Chynoweth

Assessor: Wayne Williams

ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE: None

ELECTED OFFICIALS ABSENT: Bill Brown, Ward 4

OTHERS PRESENT: Frederic Grosser; William Harris, Wendy Hundley, Tanmaysingh Rajput, Laura Sandefur, and Members of the Media

1. ROLL CALL

Chair Marlin called the meeting of the Cunningham Township Board to order at 6:05pm.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

Trustee Miller made a motion to approve the minutes from the meeting held on May 6, 2019. Trustee Hursey seconded motion. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.

3. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA There were none.

4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION There was none.

5. COMMITTEE TO VERIFY BILLS

The following items were presented in omnibus fashion:

1. Town Fund

2. General Assistance Fund

Trustee Miller made a motion to approve the Town Fund for $ 41,238.12 and the General Assistance Fund for $ 58,791.10. Motion seconded by Trustee Roberts and carried by unanimous voice vote.

6. REPORTS OF OFFICERS

Township Supervisor Danielle Chynoweth provided a written report to the board. She gave a summary of her written statement, mentioning the following updates:

 Current participants increased from 106 to 114

 Homeless assistance provided to three households

Ms. Chynoweth asked to delay the social service grants decision, and she provided a written explanation for the delay. She reported that six township staff have been trained in the use of the Statewide Network that will allow township staff to post all homeless and disabled participants and give them access to local housing resources. Greens on Green Township Garden event kicked off May 25th approximately 150 people attended the event, 60 seedlings were planted that the community donated. Next event theme is Self Care Community Repair Wellness Fair and will take place Saturday, June 29 from 3-6pm with acupuncture, massage, haircuts, nail care, and children activities.

7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was none.

8. NEW BUSINESS

a. Discussion – Annual Budget FY 2019-2020

Township Supervisor Chynoweth presented this item and reminded the public that if they had any comments about the budget, they can go to the township building or submit any questions to supervisor@cunninghamtownship.org.

Ms. Chynoweth gave a PowerPoint presentation showing Township’s mission, total tax income and all of its income sources with a breakdown of the impact to residents. She said that Township is independent and not affected by state budget crisis, and does in person assessment to bridge the gaps. The focus was the root of poverty (employment, distribution, and discrimination).

Ms. Chynoweth gave a summary of all of the services provided in FY 2018-2019. A graph was shown of the caseload in correlation to National and County Poverty Rates with statistical changes and fluctuation from 1997-present. Services provided last fiscal year were as follows:

 Temporary support for residents who are disabled or out of work.

 Community Work Program at Salt and Light & Health Care Consumers

 114 participants currently

 24 are homeless

 237 served so far in FY 2018-2019

 $304/month + bus pass (up from $265 based on Township Supervisors of Illinois & Department of Human Services(DHS) recommendation)

 $401,280 budgeted in direct support

The rental assistance and guidelines, the services provided to the homeless since December of 2017, and the new budget for FY 2020. Showing a rent burden graph stating that Urbana has the highest rent burden compare to the National, Champaign County, and the City of Champaign. Sharing the stunning number of 650 school age children registered as homeless in Champaign County in the 2015-2016 year, current figures are not available. Showing the current state of shelter that is not addressing the needs of same day shelter for women and children or a year-round shelter for either men or women, her office has set aside an emergency shelter budget of $50,000.

Ms. Chynoweth provided a summary of social service grants, partnership with the City of Urbana, other programs, Township garden updates, and the proposed amount of $38, 000 for a rapid response fund with guidelines set for a later date. She ended her presentation by addressing some financial issues going forward and trustee’s questions and concerns about Township’s finances for the future.

Township Assessor Wayne Williams announced that Township Clerk Charles Smyth administered the oath of office to Chief Deputy Assessor William Harris, Deputy Assessors Laura Sandefur, and Tanmaysingh Rajput.

Mr. Williams and Mr. Harris presented the proposed annual budget for FY 2019-2020. Mr. Williams gave a brief description of the services provided at the assessor’s office such as:

 To value a property accurately and fairly

 Educate taxpayers about the Illinois Property Tax system

 Operation Fair Assessment and changes to the upcoming budget.

Mr. Williams and Mr. Harris addressed trustee questions and concerns and the challenges moving forward; some of the priorities are property assessments backlog for residential and commercial properties. While conducting a social rate study they found out that commercial properties are at 24.11 when in fact they should be at 33.33 that is a 38.24% below the guidelines of the Illinois Department of Revenue.

b. Closed Session: Motion to go into closed session pursuant to section 2(c)(11) of the Open Meetings Act (5 ILCS 120/2(c)(11) to discuss intervention in pending litigation.

Trustee Miller made a motion to go into closed session to discuss intervention in pending litigation pursuant to 5ILCS 120/2(c) 1, motion seconded by trustee Hazen and carried

by roll call vote. Votes were as follows: