At the beginning of the year, over 4,000 addresses  in Monroe County will need some form of modification. 

Some changes will be as simple as affixing reflective numbers on a mailbox, although some residents are already getting completely new addresses.

Monroe County Public Safety Director Kevin Scheibe was on hand Tuesday during the Monroe County Board meeting to  explain additions to the county’s 9-1-1 emergency service revisions.

The changes at the county level reflect a change in philosophy at the state level.

Scheibe recalled instances in the past when an incorrect address or some other issue was reported to the state, usually with little concern shown.

“The ‘work in progress’ days are over,” Scheibe said, adding the changes are in the interest of not only keeping residents safe but protecting first responders.

The problem involves the inability of public safety personnel to quickly locate residences due to the lack of proper address display, confusing address layout and even some houses with addresses which are out of sequence.  

One of the biggest changes in Monroe County will be a change of address for any road that branches off a main road which keeps the main road’s name as an address.

If the road has more than two houses or addresses, the road must then be renamed.

According to Scheibe, his department has already changed the names of about 12 roads or streets that meet those criteria, although there are many more to correct.

He said he has encountered “some backlash” from property owners, although residents show more willingness to comply when the change was presented as a function of public safety.

Scheibe said several people reported they have had the same address for decades only to have it change now.

The other issues Scheibe described involve addresses at apartments, improper display on mailboxes and lack of address markers for people who live at the end of longer, private driveways.

Illinois law states reflective numbers should be affixed to both sides of a mailbox, which Scheibe said is helpful to drivers who may be approaching a house or property from either side of a road.

For people with houses located a distance off a road, signs indicating the address number should be clearly visible. 

Scheibe suggested the Monroe County Highway Department be prepared to produce such signs in the new year, when notices will begin to be delivered to properties in need of some form of update.

Monroe County Engineer Aaron Metzger pushed back on the idea that the highway department should be solely responsible for these signs, as they have other responsibilities and cannot guarantee timely delivery.

It was pointed out that people who need to make their addresses more visible can contact local sign companies and that the Waterloo, Columbia and Red Bud fire departments also have the ability to make such signs. 

Monroe County Clerk Jonathan McLean expressed concern of his office being involved with the process as changing a significant number of addresses will require a number of updates in his office, including voter registration information.

Scheibe said notices will begin to be sent at the beginning of 2025, with only 50-100 being sent per month to avoid an overwhelming amount of work from any department, adding that the most problematic instances will be handled first. 

Scheibe also said he would work with the Republic-Times to provide more information closer to the time these notices are to be sent.

In other business, Monroe County Treasurer Kevin Koenigstein gave commissioners an update on the current tax cycle.

He said tax bills are expected to go out next week. If that is the case, due dates will be Nov. 15 and Dec. 27 for 2023 property tax bills payable in 2024.

Koenigstein said most of the $73 million in county  property taxes will be collected by the end of the calendar year, but not the fiscal year. 

There will also be delinquent parcels, and a tax sale would occur sometime in February 2025. That sale would be the end of the current tax cycle, Koenigstein said.

McLean reported his office expected to be finished with tax bills on Tuesday, keeping the mailing date for tax bills in line with Koenigstein’s projections.