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McLean County, Illinois

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Budget Y
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Meetings Y
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Elected Officials Y
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Administrative Officials Y
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Permits, zoning Y
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Audits Y
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Contracts P
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Lobbying N
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Public records Y
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Local taxes Y
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County websites
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Transparency grading process

Contents

McLean County is one of 102 counties in Illinois. The county has a population of 167,699.[1]

[edit] Website evaluation

Main article: Evaluation of Illinois county websites

Last rated on Fed. 1, 2012

[edit] The good

  • 2011 recommended budget is posted on the homepage.[2]
  • Board meeting minutes and agendas are available, along with MP3 audio files of the meetings.[3]
  • Board members are listed with individual contact information.[4]
  • Financial report is available.[2]
  • Information on how to make a public records request is provided on the site.[5]
  • Building and zoning information is available.[6]
  • Local tax information is provided on the treasurer's page.[7][8]
  • Appointed officials are listed with contact information.[9]
  • Bids are posted.[10]

[edit] The bad

http://sunshinestandard.org
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[edit] Lobbying

Main article: Lobbying in McLean County, Illinois

McLean County has spent at least $97,209 since 2004 on taxpayer-funded lobbying.

Taxpayer-funded lobbying is the use of public funds by governments to influence other levels of government. Counties, for example, will pay lobbyists to influence the state or the federal government. This type of lobbying is often not disclosed to constituents. Counties hire lobbyists on a contractual basis, have lobbyists on staff, or join groups which promote or oppose legislation on their behalf. Lobbyists also help counties seeking specific projects or appropriations.

McLean County's lobbying consists of one contract with lobbyist Anderson Legislative Consulting. It belongs to two taxpayer-funded lobbying associations, including Metro Counties of Illinois.

For more on McLean County lobbying, see the main article.

Lobbying since 2004
$ lobbying total $ Illinois $ federal government $ lobbying groups # lobbying contracts # lobbying groups
$97,209.00 $37,500.00-$49,523.0012

[edit] Salaries

The McLean County website does not include salary information for its employees or elected officials. The website does not include information about the number of employees on its payroll.

[edit] Pensions

Main article: Illinois Public Pensions

McLean County participates in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. In 2008 the county finance committee began offering early retirement incentives for county employees. [11] The incentives were offered in hopes of the county saving millions of dollar in the long term through salary savings from employees earning top tier salaries. According to Finance Committee minutes in May 2008, the county was at 106 percent funding of its pension plan. [12] However, the minutes do not include a dollar amount for that funding. There are no current figures available for McLean County's pension liability. Any funding of pension liability above 80 percent is considered responsibly by economists. [13]

Illinois is facing a crisis with its publicly funded pensions. In 2010 state government was responsible for over $130 billion in pension payments, however they only had $46 billion set aside, which leaves an unfunded liability of about $85 billion. [14] Finding a way to fund that $85 billion will be the focus of the 2011 general assembly. The Pew Center for the States reported that as of 2008, Illinois is one of the worst states at contributing to its pension systems. State lawmakers will consider selling $4 billion of bonds to pay the state's annual payment on the five pension programs it runs. [15] In April, the state legislature created a two-tier system for all municipal and state employees—including teachers and state lawmakers—hired after Jan 1, 2011. Police and fire were included in an earlier draft but removed shortly before the vote. For the others, retirement was raised to 67. [16]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ↑ Census Quick Facts - McLean County, Illinois
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Financial Reports
  3. ↑ Board Meeting Notes
  4. ↑ Board Members
  5. ↑ FOIA Form
  6. ↑ Building and Zoning
  7. ↑ Treasurer
  8. ↑ Tax Information
  9. ↑ Appointed Officials
  10. ↑ Bids
  11. ↑ 'McLean County Finance Committee', Board Reports, May, 2008
  12. ↑ 'McLean County Finance Committee', Board Reports, May, 2008
  13. ↑ 'Huffington Post', Illinois Pension Liability Worst in Nation; Could Sink Economy, Feb. 18, 2010
  14. ↑ Illinois Issues, The Pension Chasm, November 15, 2010
  15. ↑ State House News, November 4, 2010
  16. ↑ 'Patch.com' Illinois Senate to Vote on Public Safety Pension Reforms Thursday Morning, Dec. 1, 2010
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