My View: Red alert for Boone County nonprofits - Opinion - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

By Cathy Ward

Posted Sep. 13, 2015 at 5:33 PM

Hundreds of Boone County volunteers in nonprofit groups will get a clear picture of how much they are valued when the the Boone County Board votes Wednesday on a proposed fee for any food permits for these groups.

The Boone County Health Department is again seeking to impose a fee, snatching a portion of the profits, when church groups, community groups, school groups have dinners, breakfasts, ice cream socials, spaghetti dinners, etc., as fundraising activities.

The agency tried this a couple years ago, but the proposal was defeated; some board members even suggested at the time that the department be eliminated and services be contracted out to other counties. At the time, County Board member Ron Wait, who was a state representative for years, noted that counties are not required to have health departments.

So the department is back again seeking the fee with a new board that, so far, has not seen a fee hike it didn't like.

The proposal has had easy passage from the Health Board; County Board member Sherry Branson and new Health Board member Barb Thrun voted no. At the County Board committee level, only I voted no; Paul Larson, Sherry Giesecke and Ray Larson voted yes.

Health Board official Bill Hatfield says they need the money to help balance the budget, even though figures show more than $500,000 in the combined reserves. He also says the fee will not even cover the costs of the work done to supervise these events. However, sometimes the only work done is to file the permit sheet.

Besides, Boone County residents already pay for the services of the Health Department every time we pay taxes. That's their job! The department also receives many grants, which is also taxpayer money.

When asked how much each nonprofit group would have to pay, Hatfield said: “What is the speed limit in Illinois?” I guess that smart-aleck reply to a legitimate question was meant to mean that each permit could carry a different fee.

Hatfield also claimed that the Boone County Health Department is a nonprofit group. However that is an apples-to-oranges comparison because Health Department staff members are certainly paid (Hatfield's annual salary is more than $62,000, plus health benefits, vacation and holiday pay) while volunteers in nonprofits usually pay for the privilege of serving on these groups with time, gas, dues, buying tickets.

At a time when distrust of many government activities is apparent, it seems a poor time for any board to raise fees for people working hard to help their communities. It will be certainly hard to convince these volunteers of the statement “We're from the government. We're here to help.”

The County Board will meet at 6:30 p.m. at the Logan Avenue Administration Building.  (Wednesday, September 16, 2015)

My View: Red alert for Boone County nonprofits - Opinion - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL