Republican county-wide officials have joined Madison County Board members “in strong support” of their effort to modify ordinances relating to board oversight and Chairman Kurt Prenzler’s authority over County Board administration.
Circuit Clerk Tom McRae, County Auditor David Michael, State’s Attorney Tom Haine, County Treasurer Chris Slusser and Regional Superintendent of Schools Rob Werden issued a joint statement in support of the proposed changes “due to a recent lawsuit costing $1.3 million to taxpayers and many other personnel problems.”
The statement reads:
We all believe these proposed changes are reasonable and responsible. We fully support them. As independent elected officials, we need the county administration to work smoothly and efficiently so we can do our jobs well. Every Republican county-wide elected official agrees that Chairman Prenzler’s inept management and bad judgment is wasting taxpayer resources and harming our abilities to serve the citizens of Madison County. This action is long overdue, and we commend the Board’s leadership in pursuing these ordinance updates even in the face of personal attacks.
The idea of additional Board oversight and involvement in County Administration has been rumored for a while, especially since Prenzler’s most recent defeat last spring when former Community Development Director’s lawsuit for sexual harassment and wrongful termination ended up costing the county over $1.3 million. Since then we all have seen the continued revolving door of department heads, misguided appointments and personnel decisions, and a County Chairman who maintained an ongoing professional relationship with two fired former administrators even while these same fired employees were filing and litigating scores of lawsuits against the county. With all of this as background, the fact that Mr. Prenzler apparently thinks these changes are about PTELL just shows that he apparently has no idea what is happening inside the County government.
Mr. Prenzler will still be County Board Chairman with all the powers guaranteed by State Statute. At the same time, the elected County Board will have increased oversight and authority over County Board Administration matters, which are its responsibility. That makes a lot of sense. We encourage the Board to see this plan through.
Petition for a Special Meeting
The bi-partisan group of Madison County Board members petitioned for a special board meeting to consider an ordinance to amend “personnel policies for County Board appointed officials and department heads and certain Madison County ordinances.”
The petition was signed by board members Eric Foster (R), Chris Hankins (D), Chris Guy (R), Denise Wiehardt (R), Nick Petrillo (D), Gussie Glasper (D), Mike Walters (R), Bobby Ross (R), Stacey Pace (R), James Goggin (R), Mick Madison (R) and Terry Eaker (R).
“It is the opinion of the County Board that the chairman has exhibited chronically inept management, lack of communication or research on important issues relating to lowing (sic) property taxes, lack of attention to his job which decreases the quality of services paid for by taxpayers, and multiple disastrous personnel decisions which have cost the county millions of dollars in legal costs and settlements,” the proposed ordinance states.
Prenzler issued a press release in response to the petition, claiming that the proposed changes are in retaliation for his support of Republican County Board candidates running against incumbents in the primary election.
In his press release, he also drew attention to the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL), stating that the “non incumbent winning candidates all support a public vote on PTELL tax caps.”
The Madison County Board previously voted to postpone PTELL in August 2020, which moved the issue beyond the deadline to put it on the November ballot that year. Several board members agreed that they did not know enough about the law and did not have adequate time to research the matter and make an educated decision.
“I know there are technical aspects of PTELL that are confusing,” Prenzler wrote in his press release. “But again - let the voters decide.”
PTELL caps the total amount certain property taxes may increase year to year by the lesser of a consumer price index or 5 percent. Voters must approve increases beyond that.
Prenzler stated that PTELL also eliminates the backdoor referendum, which he said is “a tricky way for taxing districts to raise your taxes without a public vote.”
"To sum it up, I will remain pro-taxpayer and also defend the concept of public vote, the foundation of democracy," he wrote.