On October 16 this short statement of questions and answers appeared on the county’s website: https://www.boonecountyil.org/sites/default/files/images/Maple%20Crest%20Care%20Centre%20Referendum%20Question%20FAQs.pdf
On September 24 early voting began.
10/16/2020
Maple Crest Care Centre Referendum Question Frequently Asked Questions
This November, Boone County residents will be asked to vote on whether or not the County Board can pursue selling Maple Crest Care Centre (Maple Crest). To address common questions related to the question, we've compiled a list of FAQ’s.
What is Maple Crest Care Centre? Maple Crest is an 86 bed nursing home facility located at 4452 Squaw Prairie Rd in Belvidere, Illinois. The existing facility was constructed after a Countywide referendum held on January 7, 1969. The referendum allowed the County to issue nearly $1M of construction bonds and levy a tax for future debt service payments. The new facility opened in February 1971.
Does Boone County own and operate Maple Crest Care Centre? Yes and no. In 1999, due to ever‐increasing financial and operational difficulties associated with operating a nursing home facility, the Boone County Board voted to outsource the operations of Maple Crest by leasing the facility to a private organization. Currently, Maple Crest is operated by Symphony Care Network, a post‐acute care provider with 29 locations throughout the Midwest. Although the operation of Maple Crest is outsourced, the County retains ownership of the facility and grounds.
What level of care does Maple Crest Care Centre provide to its residents? Maple Crest is rated as a five‐star facility (the highest rating) by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The star rating system gives each facility a rating between 1 and 5 stars and includes an analysis of health inspections, staffing, and quality of resident care measures
. What would approval of the referendum mean for the future of Maple Crest Care Centre? Passage of the ballot question would provide the County Board with the option to pursue selling Maple Crest in such a manner and upon such terms as it deems best for the interest of the County. The process for selling/disposing of a County Home is set‐out in the Illinois Counties Code (55 ILCS 5/5‐21001). If the home was erected after referendum approval, like Maple Crest was, a referendum is required to sell it.
Without approval of the ballot question, the County Board does not have the option to explore selling Maple Crest to a private operator. If, after the passage of the ballot question, the County Board did decide to move forward with selling Maple Crest, the sale would go through the normal public County Board approval process.
What are other Illinois counties doing with their County‐owned nursing home facilities? County‐owned nursing home facilities are becoming increasingly rare in Illinois. Some, such as Winnebago County, continue to own and operate a nursing home facility. Others, such as Rock Island County and Champaign County, most recently, have sold their nursing home facilities to private operators.
Additional Questions?
Boone County Administration Office
1212 Logan Ave, Suite 102
Belvidere, IL 61008
815‐547‐4770
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Illinois Statute referenced above:
(55 ILCS 5/5-21001) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-21001)
Sec. 5-21001. Establishment and maintenance of county home. In any county which establishes and maintains a county sheltered care home or a county nursing home for the care of infirm or chronically ill persons, as provided in Section 5-1005, the County Board shall have power:
1. To acquire in the name of the county by purchase, grant, gift, or legacy, a suitable tract or tracts of land upon which to erect and maintain the home, and in connection therewith a farm or acreage for the purpose of providing supplies for the home and employment for such patients as are able to work and benefit thereby.
The board shall expend not more than $20,000 for the purchase of any such land or the erection of buildings without a 2/3 vote of all its members in counties of 300,000 or more population, or a favorable vote of at least a majority of all its members in counties under 300,000 population.
2. To receive in the name of the county, gifts and legacies to aid in the erection or maintenance of the home.
3. To appoint a superintendent and all necessary employees for the management and control of the home and to prescribe their compensation and duties.
4. To arrange for physicians' or other health care professionals' services and other medical care for the patients in the home and prescribe the compensation and duties of physicians so designated.
5. To control the admission and discharge of patients in the home.
6. To fix the rate per day, week, or month which it will charge for care and maintenance of the patients. Rates so established may vary according to the amount of care required, but the rates shall be uniform for all persons or agencies purchasing care in the home except rates for persons who are able to purchase their own care may approximate actual cost.
7. To make all rules and regulations for the management of the home and of the patients therein.
8. To make appropriations from the county treasury for the purchase of land and the erection of buildings for the home, and to defray the expenses necessary for the care and maintenance of the home and for providing maintenance, personal care and nursing services to the patients therein, and to cause an amount sufficient for those purposes to be levied upon the taxable property of the counties and collected as other taxes and further providing that in counties with a population of not more than 1,000,000 to levy and collect annually a tax of not to exceed .1% of the value, as equalized or assessed by the Department of Revenue, of all the taxable property in the county for these purposes. The tax shall be in addition to all other taxes which the county is authorized to levy on the aggregate valuation of the property within the county and shall not be included in any limitation of the tax rate upon which taxes are required to be extended, but shall be excluded therefrom and in addition thereto. The tax shall be levied and collected in like manner as the general taxes of the county, and when collected, shall be paid into a special fund in the county treasury and used only as herein authorized. No such tax shall be levied or increased from a rate lower than the maximum rate in any such county until the question of levying such tax has first been submitted to the voters of such county at an election held in such county, and has been approved by a majority of such voters voting thereon. The corporate authorities shall certify the question of levying such tax to the proper election officials, who shall submit the question to the voters at an election held in accordance with the general election law.
The proposition shall be in substantially the following form:
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Shall ........ County be authorized
to levy and collect a tax at a rate not YES
to exceed .1% for the purpose of --------------------
........ (purchasing, maintaining) a NO
county nursing home?
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If a majority of votes cast on the question are in favor, the county shall be authorized to levy the tax.
If the county has levied such tax at a rate lower than the maximum rate set forth in this Section, the county board may increase the rate of the tax, but not to exceed such maximum rate, by certifying the proposition of such increase to the proper election officials for submission to the voters of the county at a regular election in accordance with the general election law. The proposition shall be in substantially the following form:
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Shall the maximum rate
of the tax levied by........ YES
County for the purpose of.......
(purchasing, maintaining) a -----------------------------
county nursing home be
increased from........ to NO
........ (not to exceed .1%)
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If a majority of all the votes cast upon the proposition are in favor thereof, the county board may levy the tax at a rate not to exceed the rate set forth in this Section.
9. Upon the vote of a 2/3 majority of all the members of the board, to sell, dispose of or lease for any term, any part of the home properties in such manner and upon such terms as it deems best for the interest of the county, and to make and execute all necessary conveyances thereof in the same manner as other conveyances of real estate may be made by a county. However, if the home was erected after referendum approval by the voters of the county, it shall not be sold or disposed of except after referendum approval thereof by a majority of the voters of the county voting thereon.
If the home was erected after referendum approval by the voters of the county, the county nursing home may be leased upon the vote of a 3/5 majority of all the members of the board.
10. To operate a sheltered care home as a part of a county nursing home provided that a license to do so is obtained pursuant to the Nursing Home Care Act, as amended.
(Source: P.A. 99-581, eff. 1-1-17.)
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Unanswered Questions:
1.Currently—are the taxpayers paying any type of property taxes for the operation of Maple Crest Care Centre?
2. What are the general terms under the current lease as far as annual rent and maintenance costs? What is the current net loss or gain to the county budget?
3. The facility is being operated by a for profit corporation. Are property taxes being paid on the property? What is the accessed valuation of the property both for tax purposes and insurance coverage? If there is a recent market appraisal, what is that value?
4. Does the county currently have any say in the patient rates or the number of public aid patients?
