A week before the second due date of the latest property tax cycle, the resignation of Monroe  County Supervisor of Assessments Carl Wuertz was made official.

During a rare Friday meeting of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners, the courthouse was packed with people on hand to wish Wuertz well in retirement as well as to watch as his replacement, Dawn Goff, was approved and sworn in.

Wuertz, who has served as county assessor for the past 18 years, has almost two years left on his current elected term, which ends Nov. 30, 2026.

Wuertz was in attendance as his resignation was accepted, although he simply offered a wave when encouraged by the board to make a statement. 

Monroe County Republican Central Committee Chairman Ed McLean then addressed the board, announcing Goff as the committee’s recommendation to fill the remainder of Wuertz’s existing term.

Goff was then sworn in by Monroe County Resident Circuit Judge Chris Hitzemann.

Goff expressed thanks to the Republicans for selecting her as well as Wuertz for his work.

She also said she was looking forward to working with all county departments in her new role.

Goff is no stranger to the courthouse, however. She has over a decade of experience in county government, working mostly in the Monroe County Circuit Clerk’s Office, with her most recent position being in the Monroe County Clerk’s Office.

During public comment, frequent county meeting attendee and 2022 Democratic candidate for county commissioner Pat Kelly asked why a special election was not held to replace Wuertz.

Monroe County State’s Attorney Ryan Webb addressed Kelly’s concern, explaining state statute dictates elected county official vacancies are filled by a recommendation of the central committee of the political party through which the official was elected (10 ILCS 5/25-11).

Two such instances have occurred in Monroe County in recent years. Current county commissioner Doug Garmer, a Republican, was appointed last year to fill the term of Dennis Knobloch upon his resignation. In 2020, Knobloch was appointed to fill the unexpired term of county commissioner Ronald Schultheis, also a Republican, after his passing.   

The resignation and appointment of the supervisor of assessments was only part of what was a large agenda on Friday.

Commissioners also approved three tax levies for 2024 property taxes payable in 2025. 

For county operations, the levy is $8,100,651. Monroe County Treasurer Kevin Koenigstein noted the total is less than 2023, later adding he expects the county to “hold the line next year” by levying a higher amount than this year and possibly collecting less in tax money.

Koenigstein further noted part of the decrease in the most recent levy was a lessening of the “nursing home bond” budget from $750,000 to $350,000.

Bonds were approved by voter referendum in 2004 and 2005 to support construction of the current Oak Hill senior living and rehabilitation center in Waterloo.

A refinancing of those bonds in 2013 saved the county over $2 million.

With the final bond payment scheduled for 2025, the $350,000 levied this year would not be on the county budget for the next fiscal year, which Koenigstein reasoned could put the county in position to lower the total amount of property taxes collected.

Of the more than $73 million collected this year for 2023 property taxes, only $8.61 million – 11.7 percent – goes to Monroe County to finance its various departments such as the sheriff’s department, county jail, county clerk, circuit clerk, EMS and EMA, among others.

The largest portion of all taxes collected in Monroe County – 65.5 percent this year – are disbursed to local school districts.

The other two approved levies were $504,185 for the county’s mental health board and $400,000 to fund the county’s ambulance service

Alicia Emmerich, currently the acting administrator of Oak Hill, also offered commissioners good news regarding the county-owned facility.

While presenting the Oak Hill budget for approval, Emmerich reported the operation made over $600,000 in revenue at the end of the most recent fiscal year after being in the red about $600,000 in Fiscal Year 2023.

An Oct. 4, 2023, Republic-Times articlereported an operating loss of nearly $1.1 million prior to the end of FY23, which was Nov. 30, 2023.

Emmerich said Oak Hill was doing much better in not relying on external employment agencies to provide nursing staff to satisfy state-regulated nursing home staffing level regulations.

She also said morale at the facility was much improved over previous years.

Emmerich took over administrative duties at Oak Hill following the termination of former administrator Shari Kruep in late September.

In other business, commissioners divvied out the final remaining unused funds it received as part of the American Rescue Plan Act in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of the $6,827,831 Monroe County received in 2021 – which needs to be earmarked or spent by Dec. 31 – a balance of $797,586.65 was given to various departments for use in 2025.

Use of remaining balances already committed but not yet spent include an addition and shed for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, maintenance expenses for the Harrisonville Levee District and Columbia Levee District, and a stormwater culvert replacement in Maeystown. 

Newly-committed funds were promised for improvements at Miles Cemetery and Palmier Cemetery and for renovations to Monroe County Courthouse Courtroom 213 and the state’s attorney’s office.

Webb explained the courthouse renovation will redesign Room 213 to mirror Room 211 – the main courtrooms used for Monroe County Circuit Court business – by adding pews, a jury box and other remodeling aspects.

During Friday’s meeting, commissioners awarded the lone bid for the courtroom renovation project to Middendorf & Reuss Construction, the same company which completed a recent expansion of the Monroe County Jail. 

Monroe County EMA Director Kevin Scheibe made a late request to use ARPA funds to help with a down payment to purchase a new mobile command unit. 

Scheibe said the unit the county had been using was “scrapped” as it had fallen into disrepair.

Since this new unit would not be ready until 2026 at the earliest, it was deemed as ineligible for ARPA funds.

An overview of all ARPA disbursements was also presented to commissioners. 

Of the $6.8 million received, nearly half – $3,274,246.73 – was used for an addition to and remodel of the Monroe County Jail. 

By department, the Monroe County EMA received the most, $527,616.68, although just over $40,000 was used to provide local fire departments with updated fire pagers and an updated paging system.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department received $520,441.89, which was used for new phone systems, a jail plumbing project and courtroom audio/visual improvements.

“Non-county” entities received $414,756.04. These entities include Human Support Services, which received nearly $250,000 for NetSmart professional services and funding for its strategic plan. $170,000 was used for a restoration project at Old Baum Church near Foster Pond.

The Regional Office of Education spent $380,495 on renovations at its new Red Bud headquarters and the purchase of a vehicle. This total was matched by Randolph County.

The Fort de Chartres Historical Site was given $216,800 for installation of two slip-line culverts, with a similar project in Columbia using $163,720.

The Stringtown Levee District received $202,085 for the purchase of three culverts and two ditch cleaning projects.

The commissioners department used $145,798, with $104,797 going to EMS for ambulance improvements, $28,501 going to the City of Waterloo for a three-phase pad mount transformer and $12,500 going to HSS to help further fund its strategic plan project.

The county maintenance department used $83,157.65 of ARPA funds for miscellaneous improvements to the courthouse, including HVAC work. 

The Monroe County Circuit Clerk, State’s Attorney and Health Department each received less than $50,000.

The county 911 department used $504.96 for a computer desk, TV wall mount and weather station alert system.

Also during Friday’s meeting, Monroe County Clerk Jonathan McLean discussed a possible change to the county’s accounts payable policy.

McLean proposed a weekly bill pay system rather than waiting for approval of bills during bi-monthly county board meetings.

McLean explained the process would help avoid delays and possible penalties associated with time-sensitive invoices. 

While commissioners would still have final approval and oversight of all payments, the method would allow review of bills on a weekly basis while still voting to approve accounts payable reports during each county board meeting.

The item was for discussion only, although McLean and commissioners agreed to try a “test run” with small amounts prior to the next board meeting, which is set for Jan. 6 at 8:15 a.m. at the Monroe County Courthouse.