Andrew A. Rand announces approval of 2020 budget recommendations by Peoria County committees

Andrew A. Rand, the chairman of the Peoria County Board, announced the revision and approval of the 2020 budget recommendations by the Peoria County committees. The announcement came after the committee meetings on December 3 and 4. A special budget meeting is going to be held on December 18 at 4:30 pm. It will be a full Peoria County Board meeting.

The Peoria County’s property taxes are kept small in the budget recommendations and the IMRF obligations are kept fully funded. The share of the tax bill of Peoria County will go down in 2020 as compared to the 2019 budget due to the reduced property values. The property tax services will not have any additional fees, according to the budget recommendations.

The size of payroll will be reduced in 2020 and it will be achieved through attrition within the organization. Rand said, “The Peoria County Board faced difficult decisions in creating a budget for 2020.” The numbers are impacted due to reduced property values. The IMRF’s rate of return also impacted the numbers. The Peoria County Board was determined to reach a solution without the increased pension obligations on to the taxpayers, Rand added.

The reserve policies of the Board will be met by the General Fund. The General Fund will be sustained in the next 10 years. Scott Sorrel, the administrator of Peoria County, said, “We have cautionary optimism for new sales tax revenues in 2020 from legalized recreational cannabis.” He added that online sales would also improve in the year 2020. He said that it was not the right time to tell the exact figure about the revenue to be generated from cannabis and online sales.

The residents of Peoria County are advised to contact Sorrel at (309) 643-3028 for getting more details about the budget 2020. They can also contact him at

. The 2020 budget recommendations are present on the official website of Peoria County.