Oquawka, IL – Like many counties in the region, Henderson County is struggling through the recession.
Board Finance Committee Chair Barbara Lumbeck says the county had to close a $70,000 gap in its proposed budget for next year. That's money it was not able to recoup partially because the state did not come through with funding as it has in years past. She says the county is also still trying to recover financially from the floods of 2008.
Lumbeck says the county cut budgets in the Sheriff's, Assessor's and Treasurer's office among others. She says before that, all county departments had been cutting back. But, the board approved a two percent pay raise across the board.
"[That] was all we felt like we could do," says Lumbeck.
Budget cuts should not adversely affect most departments more than they already have, but Lumbeck says some will be hit particularly hard.
"The sheriff is not getting a new car, and we had to cut one deputy," she says.
Henderson County's tax levy is set to increase by five percent, the maximum allowed without holding a Truth in Taxation hearing. Lumbeck could not give specific information about how large the budget is overall, how much the increased levy will generate, nor how the size of the 2010 budget compares with 2009's.