PEORIA -- A forum on Peoria Township, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria on Aug. 26, revealed how non-transparent that agency is. It's budgeting is confusing, to say the least.
Township officials attended to defend themselves and argued that the figures are not what they seem, and that it's not spending too much money on overhead compared with the funds they give to the indigent.
Out of a $2.3 million budget for relief, only $1.4 million goes to actual relief, LWV board president Cheryl Budzinski noted. That's office overhead of almost $1 million. She based her figures on the published budget.
It turns out that the relief funds are in two different accounts, officials said, one for general assisstance and one for emergency assistance. General assistance is required by the state, and emergency assistance is optional, allowing the agency and its board, the Peoria City Council, to set the guidelines for who gets what, they said.
The general assistance funds follow state guidelines, they said. But a recent Freedom of Information request for the Peoria Township guidelines elicited only a pamphlet which applies to the emergency assistance -- very confusing.
Asked about this, the officials said the general assistance guidelines, "to meet basic maintenance needs," are in a thick binder, and contained on the application form for that relief. Which they did not explain or release in response to the request, though it is a public document.
The maximum is $325 monthly, and can continue indefinitely for some people.
"You can't get general assistance and emergency assistance at the same time," they said.
They estimated the Affordable Care Act might save the agency $6,000 to $10,000 a month, though city and township treasurer Pat Nichting, alluding to Republican talking points, attacked the ACA as too complicated to know what will happen.
Up to 90 percent of the clients have serious medical problems, an official said.
Peoria City Council representative and liasion to the township Chuck Grayeb said "we need to make sure township relief is giving the best service," and that its budget will be looked at as the city develops its own budget in the coming months. He expressed concern about the rising numbers of poor and indigent people in the city.
Township Supervisor Joe Whalen said the general assistance budget was $1.2 million last year, with $245,999 in administrative expenses, or 16 percent overhead. But that's not including the emergency fund.
The caseloads lately have doubled, he said. The relief includes grants to the Heartland Community Health Center, a federally qualified clinic which provides medical care, funds to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center for limited dental services, bus vouchers given to various agencies to be distributed.
Assistance with energy bills and rent also are given, he said. Clients get checks from the township to spend for rent, but there's no proof that's where the money goes.
Asked about that, the officials said they once tried giving vouchers to landlords but administering that was too onerous, and they found landlords taking the money and evicting the tenants anyway. Some were living in deplorable conditions. "We were being ripped off," Whalen said.
Asked about alleged transfer of funds to the city for infrastructure repairs, officials said that never happened. A motion to do that was made but never acted upon.
The township does transfer $33,000 in funds to provide extra pay to the city officials who also do work for the township. Officials defended that saying they do more work than meets the eye, partly by attending joint meetings. "We have meetings all the time," Nichting said.
The township does not maintain excessive funds in its accounts, Whalen said. "We're OK, where we want to be," he said. The group of officials expressed doubts that the city alone could perform the work more cheaply.
-- Elaine Hopkins
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