College board certifies tax rate

The Board of Trustees of Illinois Eastern Community Colleges certified the district's tax levies for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012 and ending June 30, 2013, at the regular meeting Tuesday, Oct. 18, at Wabash Valley College in Mt. Carmel.

The college district includes those portions of White County that lie within the Grayville unit district, Fairfield high school district and former Crossville district.

The action followed a public hearing held during the meeting. The levies are for the education and building fund, outstanding bond issue, tort liability, workmen's compensation and unemployment, financial audit, Social Security and Medicare.

The IECC tax rate for FY2013 is estimated at 46.11 cents per $100 in equalized assessed valuation. The Certificate of Tax Levy is filed on or before the last Tuesday in December with the county clerk in each of the 12 counties (including White) in which part of the IECC district is located.

A resolution was adopted to comply with a General Accounting Standards Board requirement that under GASB guidelines, taxes levied for the year 2011 will be collected late in calendar year 2012 and that 100 percent of the levy will be allocated to fiscal year 2013.

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Action was taken to certify that IECC has complied with provisions of the Truth in Taxation Law.

Health and dental insurance was approved for renewal with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois for the 2012 calendar year, with an overall rate increase of 7 percent.

In February of 2010 the trustees approved the offering of a Qualified High Deductible Health Plan (District Plan) to all non-faculty employees and also implemented a plan allowing Health Savings Accounts (HSA) that enabled qualified employees in the District Plan to set aside money in pre-tax dollars. Each year the amount of the district's contribution to the participant's HSA for the coming calendar year is set prior to the beginning of the open enrollment period. The contribution for calendar year 2012 will be $1,000.

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Construction of an outdoor amphitheater behind the Main Hall at Wabash Valley College was approved, to accommodate social and student events that exceed availability of the WVC Theatre. The facility will seat approximately 200 and provide a 24' by 15' stage. Estimated cost is $8,209 and will be paid for by the WVC Foundation.

The Illinois Capital Development Board recently approved a project for a concrete parking lot at Frontier Community College, to be located along the east side of the main entrance to the college and north of Foundation Hall. The CDB received a bid from the lowest qualified bidder of $185,000 for materials and labor, which was $25,000 more than the CDB approved amount of $160,000.

The approved project contained $16,000 for contingencies, some of which could be used to pay the cost difference. The IECC trustees took action to notify the CDB that the District is willing to pay the additional cost of between $9,000 and $25,000. The exact amount depends on how much of the contingency money can be used for materials and labor.

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The trustees approved purchase of a new telephone system for the District and its four colleges from Frontier Communications at a cost of $415,556.96. The current system was purchased in 1996 and is becoming expensive to maintain. The new system includes all hardware, software and data network equipment that will be required for a state of the art telephone system.

The Mitel telephone system quoted by Frontier also allows the District to fully utilize the category three telephone cables that are presently in all district buildings. With Mitel, it will not be necessary to rewire each college and allows a direct connection to existing phones rather than requiring an additional converter box at each desk.

Four affiliation agreements were approved, as follows:

Richland Memorial Hospital, Olney, Emergency Response Training.

Fairfield Memorial Hospital, Fairfield, Phlebotomy Program.

St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital, Effingham, Associate Degree Nursing Program.

Flora Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, Flora, Associate Degree Nursing Program.

Observation agreements for the Associate Degree Nursing Program were approved with Happy Day Express Day Care Center and First Christian Preschool, both located in Fairfield.

Amy Scamman was employed as Nursing Instructor, effective January 4.

Lori Hoke was employed as Office Assistant at Lincoln Trail College, effective November 1.

Courtney Yost was employed as Coordinator, Outreach Services at Frontier Community College, effective November 14.

Eric Resor was employed as Recruiter/Advisor at Frontier Community College, effective October 24.

The resignation of Emily Gullett was accepted as temporary Office Assistant at Lincoln Trail College, effective October 15.

Two retirements were announced. Carol Redman will retire as Director, Educational Talent Search, District Office/Olney Central College, effective Jan. 1. Damona Nease will retire as Custodian at Olney Central College, effective Jan. 1.

All members of the Board of Trustees were present at the October meeting.

Next regular meeting of the Board of Trustees will be Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. at Frontier Community College, Fairfield.