Tax levy ordinance ready for public inspection
December 3, 2019
The Charleston City Council approved putting the annual tax levy ordinance for the fiscal year May 1, 2020, to April 20, 2021, on file for public inspection.
The total amount for the levy on file is $4,913,525.
City Manager Scott Smith and City Council member Tim Newell talk before the council meeting Tuesday. Mayor Brandon Combs was not in attendance for the meeting, so it was led by council member Dennis Malak.
Some amounts included in the levy include:
• $185, 525 for playgrounds and recreation
• $1,486,420 for the police pension
• $1,522,087 for the fire pension
• $251,000 for social security
• $410,000 for the library
• $582,258 for library bonds and interest
The remaining amount of the total levy is $476,235 and is divided up among other items in the ordinance.
The levy will be on inspection until it is voted on Dec. 17.
The council also approved the fire and police pension report in regards to the annual tax levy.
A resolution for the council to act as the fiduciary for the East Central Illinois Task Force.
The agencies involved in the ECTIF are Coles County Sheriff’s Office, Eastern University Police Department, Mattoon Police Department, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Arcola Police Department.
The mission of the task force is “to disrupt criminal enterprises and remove the instrumentalities and proceeds of crime and to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and their affiliates in the ECITF area of responsibility.”
A reason listed in the resolution for the need for the council to act as fiduciary on behalf of the Charleston Police Department was because “the forfeiture of instrumentalities and proceeds of crime, and the forfeiture of monies related to drug trafficking and money laundering as provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, require that a process of equitable sharing and distribution of said federally forfeited assets be established.”
The council will now “act as fiduciary on behalf of the East Central Illinois Task Force (ECITF); and … shall fulfill the requirements as prescribed in the attached Memorandum of Agreement and Fiduciary Agreement regarding the receiving, maintaining and expending of funds awarded to CPD through the Department of Justice and Department of the Treasury Equitable Sharing Programs,” according to the resolution.
Councilman Dennis Malak, who led the meeting in place of Mayor Brandon Combs, said the resolution will allow the task force “to continue to serve our citizens here in the east central Illinois area.”
The council also approved two raffle licenses.
One raffle license that was approved was for St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church Knights of Columbus to do weekly raffle weekly drawings from January 2020 to December 2020 at the Charleston Moose Lodge to raise funds to assist with charities and church maintenance.
The other raffle license was for the Children’s Advocacy Center of East Central Illinois on Feb. 29, 2020, at the LifeSpan Center to raise funds to support the services of the Children’s Advocacy Center.
Corryn Brock can be reached at 581-2812 or at cebrock@eiu.edu.
