The chair of the Marion County Board’s Budget Committee will ask county office holders Tuesday night for a freeze on the hiring of fulltime employees.
Brock Waggoner said at an earlier finance committee meeting he understands the money is in this year’s budget and they can’t force a freeze, but it could prevent layoffs in next year’s budget.
“We know that the last two years we’ve been using federal funds or other funds to help cover some of the shortfalls,” Waggoner said. “Those have dried up, so moving forward, if we’ve asked for a hiring freeze or asked for full-time people not to come in, it’s going to help as we make these budget discussions next year of whether somebody needs to be let go. For contracts and for different things, the low man on the totem pole is the first to go, and it’s not fair for individuals to hire them for a position and then release them quickly because of that.”
The budget committee will also discuss a new contract with Bellwether for the 2026 budget and expectations to correct some problems with putting together this year’s budget. Updates are also planned on Veterans Affairs Commission Funding and on adding job responsibilities as part of the county directory.
The board is expected to take action to restore funding to the University of Illinois Extension Service to allow 4H and other programs to continue.
An update on animal control and utilization of the Barking Lot and creation of a solar and wind ordinance to allow for additional revenue to be captured for the county is also on the agenda. There will also be discussion on a Capital Improvement Plan for the Marion County Highway Department.
The meeting gets underway at 6:30 Tuesday night at the Marion County Courthouse.
