DUANE POTTER --TOWNSHIP SUPERVISOR
RETURNING HONESTY & PROFESSIONALISM TO THE TOWNSHIP
________________________________________________________________ NEWS FLASH-----TO LEARN ABOUT TOM GREANIAS'S COMPLAINT FILED WITH LISA MADIGAN, ILLINOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL, GO TO "LETTERS" and SELECT: Response to Attorney General March 19, 2012 (click on date highlighted) _________________________________________________________________
Happy New Year
January is always a time to take stock. What is the state of Decatur Township? Not good! This year the state of Illinois stopped the Earn Fare program. This was a welfare-to-work program that we initiated for Decatur Township when I was Supervisor in the early 90’s. The state was subsidizing the General Assistance program for the township to the tune of 1.5 million a year. They were paying union wages to the workers in the program, they were paying part of our building costs, and they were paying our medical providers that were taking care of our indigent. Suddenly the state not only withdrew their money for the future program, but also failed to pay what they owed us and our medical providers for services we provided before 6-30-2011, the date they stopped. We are still attempting to collect the $484,000 they still owe us.
Should the program have continued? Perhaps not. It had gotten too expensive for the benefits provided – but -- losing the state reimbursement is giving the township really big financial problems. The laws are still in place mandating that the township give a monthly check to those who show need and also that we pay their medical bills. So – the Township Board has had to shuffle things around and do what we can. We had to lay off four employees, because there is no program for them to operate and no money to pay them. We now must take care of our mandate with three employees.
Fortunately, the Town board agreed to lease the upper part of our big building. The Lutheran Child and Family Services is a wonderful fit for our building and the township is comfortable on the lower level. The lease money allows us to maintain the building, pay our utilities and replace the money the state formerly paid us in rent. Many thanks to the people who came to our special meeting and voted to allow us to lease the building. Without the Lutherans’ rent, we would have been forced to raise taxes dramatically.
We have jiggled and juggled the budget, cut here and cut there, and we have managed to stay afloat. If by some miracle, the state should pay their overdue bill, we would be in decent shape. But, we can’t count on that.
With the help of my town board, I am now trying to come up with a tentative budget for next year. In light of our dire economic circumstances, I have to look at each department’s wishes very carefully – which brings me to the Assessor’s request for money. Tom Greanias is a likeable fellow, but he is not doing his job as Assessor. You are all aware that in his first year and a half, he did 309 assessments out of the 27,000 he was supposed to do. For the first time in the township’s history, we had to hire the county to do our assessor’s work, which they accomplished in less than two months. (I might add that the county assessor has one less person in their office than Tom has.) To this day, I still see no signs that any assessing is being done. We have offered help of various kinds. We talked to the PAMS/PRO software company from which the former administration purchased the program he is supposed to be using. They told us exactly what computer equipment he needs to maximize he system. We offered him $11,000 from our budget to give him what he needs for new computers. We offered to send the township’s computer expert to help him get the system on line. However, he was unhappy that we were interfering in his business. The system is the same one the county uses and they have mastered it. He would be fired if he were in a private business situation.
The town board, including myself, is rightly concerned about giving Tom any money in the budget. He complains that we didn’t give him enough money to do his job. That complaint is something I would listen to if he were attempting to do any kind of a job. He has as much money as the previous assessor had when the previous assessor completed the quadrennial assessment. He is doing nothing. The taxpayers of the township deserve better. They deserve to have their properties properly assessed. By law, Tom is an elected official, so there is very little we can do besides cut his budget, although we are looking into other ways to solve the problem.
The cemeteries are coming along very well. Our Superintendent is doing a great job. We had a successful Civil War Tour of Greenwood last October and people are asking us to do it again. Lately, there was some dissension on the Cemetery Board of Trustees after I appointed Bruce Pillsbury to the board. (Bruce is Tom Greanias’ BFF). Bruce decided that I should resign and leave Tom alone. Therefore, he tried to make trouble in any way that he could. The other members of the Cemetery Board sat down with two members of our Town Board and the issues were easily resolved.
Does all of this sound like a Soap Opera? It does to me. I saw the movie “Iron Lady” last night and I really could relate to it. What Margaret Thatcher went through is exactly what I go through at the township (although on a tiny scale). That’s scary. Will government get any better? I’m trying to do my part. I am not worried about reelection. In fact, I probably won’t run again, so I am free to do whatever I think is right for the taxpayers. I know I will have made a difference in my four years.
Duane Potter, Township Supervisor
DUANE POTTER --TOWNSHIP SUPERVISOR
