Report to the People # 98 by Philip W. Chapman, County Board District Three

The purpose of this report is to provide information and aid in government transparency.

Tax Cycle Committee: Due to realtor’s requests for free parcel shape layers as Tax Cycle Chairman I’ve met with numerous county staff to review county parcel shape policy. The board previously passed a resolution prohibiting the transfer of this information without a fee.

Therefore we’re working on a Geographical Spatial Data set agreement allowing the county to; (1) upgrade the current shape file data, (2) make it available to contractors provided at fair cost, while, (3) maintaining control of the parcel shape files.

A parcel shape file is defined as; ‘parcel polygons within the parcel network that contain the area and parcel identification n number for each property,’ Townships, municipalities, realtors, developers, the Sherriff’s Department, 9-11, and Community and Planning and Development Agencies use them. The Assessor’s Office creates Parcel Shape layers to match deeds, surveys, and subdivisions. Parcel shapes are used confidentially unless county consent is provided and in a way that prevents county liability.

Staff and I now research improvement of parcel shape files by adding additional layers. These might be; power and gas lines and distribution centers from Ameren Illinois, water lines (location and size) from all the various water districts, sewer lines (location and size) from all the various sewer districts, and telecommunication lines and distribution centers. Adding this information would assist with Planning and Development’s economic development task.

Executive Committee: I attended Executive Committee on July 31. The committee postponed decisions on the salaries for elected officials to include; the County Auditor, County Chairman, County Clerk, County Treasurer, and County Board Members. I’m inclined to freeze all County wide elected official salaries at current levels. The Clerk, Treasurer, and Auditor make approximately $116,000 while the Chairman makes about $107,000.

Judiciary Committee: I attended August 2. Chief Judge Mudge reported he is working with facilities Director Rob Schmidt to provide long overdue improvements to the County Court House using funds form the Circuit Clerk’s fund. Improvements included; walls, flooring, stairwells, latrines, and water fountains.

Health Committee: I attended August 2. Dr. Kugler visited the meeting and during public comment reported the latest epidemics to afflict our youth are; vapeing, drugs, and obesity. In addition, we face a mental health epidemic. We discussed working with networks in place to address these issues. We considered a plan to teach youth about hazards with vapeing through school districts.

Respectfully submitted,

Phil Chapman

County Board District Three

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