Pressure mounts to cut Shelter Care tax
County GOP asks for fund shift
The Madison County Republic Central Committee, an advisory panel of all eight Republicans on the 29-member County Board and other conservatives, late last month passed asking that the county strike the Shelter Care Tax from the 2009 levy and budget, said Chair Don Metzler.
"We want to get the tax for the shelter care removed," he said.The County Board in April voted 22-7 to not move forward with building a replacement of the century-old home in Edwardsville, reversing a decision in summer 2006 to draft plans for a new facility. About $5 million had been set aside for the project.
The board also voted in May, by 22-5, to fund phasing out the program and finding new homes for residents. The process is expected to finish by November.
The shelter, which cares for three dozen elderly, poor and disabled residents, is supported by a .026 percent tax levy per $1,000 of a home's assessed value. Its operating budget this year is $1.69 million, all but about $500,000 generated through the tax, according to county records.
Committee Treasurer Chris Slusser said the committee takes issue with where money generated by the tax will go now that the program is finished.
"Since they voted to close the Shelter Care Home, we voted to take the shelter care tax off the tax rolls," he said.
The committee is asking that the county eliminate the entire budget for the home, "so it can't be shifted somewhere else," Slusser said, and use the $5 million that would have gone for the new facility to handle costs around finding new homes for residents.
A three-member committee is still coordinating the closure and ruling on specifics, but county Director of Administration Joseph D. Parente said current plans call for the county to stop levying taxes once the facility ceases housing residents.
"Assuming the facility will be closed this year, no taxes will be collected on next year's tax bill for the Shelter Care Home," he said.
The advisory ruling comes as supporters and residents of the home have mounted a new effort to have the closure placed on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.
Several residents have already been moved out of the home, county officials have said.
The 11-acre plot at 333 S. Main St. also includes a small graveyard with the remains of several hundred home residents.
Resolution asks for tax cut
Below is the text of the Madison County Republican Central Committee resolution passed at its June meeting:
"The current Shelter Care Tax should be removed from the fiscal year 2009 levy, and a corresponding line item amount should be eliminated from the 2009 budget. Any funds needed to establish a reserve fund during the transition period in 2009 and beyond to provide care for current residents should come from the $5 million in funds set aside for the construction of the facility. There should not be an increase in the mental health budget for 2009 to offset the reduction in the shelter care tax."
