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Tax yields $1.2 million for mental health in Knox County

The Register-Mail - 7/24/2021

Jul. 24—GALESBURG — For the fourth year now, Knox County has funded mental health services using an annual property tax. Soon, it will distribute funds to various local agencies and organizations.

The Knox County 708 Mental Health Board was created by a countywide ballot referendum in April of 2017 to meet funding needs of people and programs that provide treatments to those affected by mental health, intellectual and developmental disabilities and substance abuse issues. The fund is collected through a county property tax.

Chairman Steve Watts of the Knox County 708 Mental Health Board says that the 0.15% property tax is projected to generate about $1,277,488 this year, although property taxes are still being collected this year.

Applications for funding were debated and reviewed by the board at two public hearings in May before awarding $1,143,157 to 11 organizations. That leaves the board with a reserve funding of $308,117,50 for the fiscal awards.

The reserve funds remain in place, Watts said, in case of catastrophic events such as natural disasters.

The biggest recipients were KCCDD, Bridgeway, and the Regional Office of Education 33. KCCDD's funding of $395,815 for general services, a respite program, and building repairs. Bridgeway's $261,406 went to psychiatric services and for a Peer Recovery Support Specialist. The ROE received $165,000 for group counseling services.

Not every application was met at asking price, and some were denied. A Regional Office of Education request for $215,712 for a counseling position was reduced by $50,712. Prairie State Legal Services requested $20,000 for legal services and were denied, and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) were denied $15,000 for operating expenses.

Watts says the benefits of the funding obviously extend to care for people with mental health and developmental disabilities, as well as substance abuse issues. They can also provide employment, such as is the case of KCCDD, who employ over 100 in the community.

While Knox County has plenty of needs from these agencies and others, the funding from the mental health tax is meant to be focused entirely toward mental health, development disability and substance abuse services, meaning, for example, an application from the Bridgeway Foundation to repair a parking lot did not see funds approved.

One area that Watts says is lacking is substance use funding.

"We would like to see (that area) receive more funding, but we really haven't had (many) applications to do that," he said.

The funding helps, but Watts acknowledges that it is not a panacea. Knox County has difficulty attracting mental health professionals and medical professionals in general, he says.

Within a 60-mile radius, Knox County connects with both the Peoria and Quad Cities metropolitan areas, he notes, but the county still has a reputation as a rural place without access to cities and the amenities that come with them.

This has been seen especially in shortages of psychiatrists and psychologists, something local schools have been able to attest to, but beyond that as well into the medical and legal fields, Watts says.

"I feel like somehow people see us as a small rural area," Watts said, speaking for himself and not as a representative of the board. "We're really not. You're 45 minutes away from these large metropolitan areas."

He says it will take more than funding to improve this, and the county will need to better communicate what it has to offer, from its schools to its affordable housing.

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