The Will County Board approved an $8 million levy Thursday for the Community Mental Health Board after Republicans and Democrats compromised on the allocation.
Will County voters approved creating a mental health board and adding another line item to their property tax bills via a referendum in 2022.
Despite voter support, Will County Board members last year debated how much to fund the new board and approved its first levy of $10 million along party lines, with Democrats in support of the levy, and Republicans opposed.
The Will County Board was headed into another political showdown on Thursday.
The board’s Finance Committee Chair Jim Richmond, a Republican from Mokena, initially proposed a $5 million levy, but Steve Balich, the Republican Leader from Homer Glen, asked to reduce the board’s funds to $2 million.
“I feel that is rather insulting to the residents of Will County,” said board member Elnalyn Costa, a Bolingbrook Democrat who is also the vice president of the Community Mental Health Board.
The board supports initiatives related to mental health, substance abuse and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“Mental health is not a partisan issue,” Costa said. “It affects all of us.”
A vote on the $2 million funding failed when Republican Annette Parker of Crest Hill was the only Republican to reject the plan.
Parker then proposed a compromise of $8 million that was approved by a 19-3 vote, with both Republicans and Democrats saying they appreciated the bipartisan support. County officials said levy would roughly cost the homeowner of a $250,000 home $21.75 a year.
Democrats had considered a $10 million levy, the same as last year.
Balich along with Republicans Julie Berkowicz, of Naperville, and Judy Ogalla, of Monee, voted against the $8 million compromise.
“Citizens are struggling to live within their means in this inflation-driven economy,” Berkowicz said. “At the end of the day if these people cannot pay their property taxes, there is no mercy for them.”
Balich said the County Board funds the Will County Health Department, which offers mental health services.
“To me this is just another way of taxing people more money, and I’m not going to vote for it,” Balich said. “I think it’s dumb.”
Board member Natalie Coleman, a Plainfield Democrat, said Will County and the country has a mental health epidemic.
“If we take the funding and put it into proactive measures, we will be in a better place,” Coleman said.
This past May, Will County residents received their property tax bills with the mental health board’s first levy. When the first round of property taxes were collected, the board gave $4 million to the Will County Health Department, said Teena Mackey, executive director of the Community Mental Health Board.
“Our vision along with the vision of the (mental health) board is looking for long-term outcomes and that’s what requires the collaboration of numerous organizations working towards a big picture,” said Elizabeth Bilotta, executive director of the Will County Health Department.
The Health Department used its funds for its behavioral health division to hire more psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners, a Spanish-speaking interpreter for the Bolingbrook satellite location, additional counseling services and more services in both Bolingbrook and Monee so people don’t have to drive to the main branch in Joliet, Mackey said.
Wait times for services have been reduced by months, Mackey said.
The Community Mental Health Board collected the second half of its levy this fall, Mackey said. The board is finalizing its grant applications to spend the remaining $6 million, she said.
The mental health board plans to accept applications for funding from Jan. 2 to Feb. 14 and award grants in March to community organizations that offer mental health services. Some of the initiatives it hopes to support include suicide prevention and mental health issues in children, young adults and those leaving incarceration, Mackey said.
“You don’t tackle mental health and substance abuse individually,” Mackey said. “They have to be addressed simultaneously.”
The board will have a rubric on how to score grant applications so it can help the most people and get the most results for the money, Mackey said.
Mackey said she was thankful there was bipartisan support for funding.
“I think it was a wonderful example of negotiation on the County Board level,” she said.
It is easier and more accepted to get treatment for a physical problem than a mental illness, which is a stigma mental health providers are trying to break, Mackey said. When someone is sick, they may see a doctor or take a day off work, but when someone is suffering from a mental health problem, they tend to isolate or not tell someone, she said.
About 25% of adults nationally struggle with their mental health and half will not reach out for support, Mackey said. About one in every six children from ages 8 to 15 have a mental health issue, and suicide is the second leading cause of death among this age group, she said.
Many barriers to receiving treatment include the cost, transportation and the availability of services in one’s area, Mackey said.
Mackey said while the board is relatively new, it plans to deliver measurable results for county residents.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
