Boone County leaders: 'We've got to figure out how to grow the economy' - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

• BELVIDERE — Since the recession hit in late 2007 and early 2008, a few hard realities have surrounded Boone County budget issues: a dwindling tax base, a stagnant economy, a larger tax burden shifting to property owners.

  In 2008, the combined value of all Boone County properties was more than $1.2 billion. That year, the typical homeowner paid 69 cents for every $100 of a property's assessed value in property taxes. By 2014, the combined property value in the county had fallen 31 percent, to about $880 million. But the amount of money the typical homeowner paid in taxes for every $100 of assessed value increased to $1.26.

  To balance its budget and compensate for its shrinking tax base, the county increased the amount of money — from $8.6 million in 2008 to $10.9 million in 2014 — it collects in property taxes each year, even as values plummeted.

  “The economics of our county were beat up in the recession and have not recovered," County Administrator Ken Terrinoni said. "But you can’t, every single year, put it on the backs of the property taxpayer. ... We’ve got to figure out how to grow the economy."

  To turn things around, the Boone County Strategic Plan Task Force — a collection of county department heads coordinated by Terrinoni, his assistant Justyn Miller and County Board members — has been meeting in "focus groups" to brainstorm ideas to revitalize the economy.

  County Board members Sherry Giesecke and Jeff Carlisle hatched the idea during a board retreat in January; for the past five months, the group has been meeting to identify issues, goals and objectives.

  "We've never done a formal process like this," Terrinoni said.

  The task force is organized into three focus groups: Public Safety and Justice, Operations, and Infrastructure and Economic Development. It has drafted five goals:

  Promote intergovernmental collaboration and communication.

  Promote economic development to support new and existing businesses.

  Maintain and enhance community safety through an integrated law enforcement and criminal justice system.

  Integrate the functions of county departments, including technology, to promote effective and efficient government.

  Plan, develop and invest in the community to enhance quality of life with a focus on infrastructure and transportation.

“Inflation plus new business is the only way to grow revenue," Gieseke said Tuesday during a Public Safety and Justice focus group meeting. "What we really want to do is not just look for money, but we want to look for improving quality of life and increasing revenue to do that."

The Public Safety and Justice group includes representatives from the sheriff's office, the county jail, emergency management, the coroner's office, the probation department, the public defender's office, the state's attorney's office, the 17th Judicial Circuit Court, the clerk of the circuit court's office and information technology.

Page 2 of 2 - The group discussed sending surveys to residents and more aggressively seeking state and federal grants for economic development and infrastructure projects. The most detailed discussion, however, was about figuring out the county's 21st-century identity and "rebranding."

One rebranding idea is to promote and encourage specialty businesses and boutique shops in the area, such as The Complete Sheep Shoppe on Caledonia Road, the McEachran Homestead Winery in Caledonia and Edwards Apple Orchard in Poplar Grove.

"It’s very interesting. It’s a great idea," said Jane Zeien, who owns The Complete Sheep Shoppe with her husband, Paul Zeien Jr. "I don't know very much about it. But I’d like to help out any way I could. ... There’s a lot of things the area has that are positive."

Zeien, whose shop specializes in wool and sheepskin products, pointed to the county fair, the local 4-H club and the county's willingness to promote local businesses as examples.

But retail alone may not be enough.

"We’re never going to solve our basic problems, like kicking the can down the road, not doing this, not doing that, until we’ve solved our tax base," Terrinoni said. "And by that I mean making it more diverse and resilient. You need a little bit of everything. A little (retail), but you need the larger industry that brings in jobs.”

The task force's operations focus group will meet next at 7:30 a.m. Aug. 7 at the Belvidere Township building, 8200 Fairgrounds Road. A meeting for the Infrastructure & Economic Development group has not been scheduled.

“What I’ve learned from my staff that I inherited six months ago is a lot of frustration, especially with county government," Sheriff Dave Ernest said. "We plan and we plan, but nothing ever seems to go anywhere. ... We're at a point where that absolutely has to change.”

Ben Stanley: 815-987-1369; bstanley@rrstar.com; @ben_j_stanley

By Ben Stanley
Rockford Register Star

 

Boone County leaders: 'We've got to figure out how to grow the economy' - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL