Monroe County officials did not wait long to install a new administrator at Oak Hill in Waterloo following the abrupt resignation of the acting director of the county-owned senior living and rehabilitation center.

During Monday’s meeting of the Monroe County Board, commissioners announced Michael Moore as the new Oak Hill leader following approval of Health Dimensions Group as an authorized agency to handle administrative staffing at the facility.

Monroe County Board Chairman George Green explained Health Dimensions Group will have the ability to hire and terminate anyone in the Oak Hill administrator role, with the goal of getting the facility “solid footing” moving forward.

The company also has discretion to make employment decisions without first receiving board approval.

Moore was not at the board meeting Monday, although it was also reported he was already at the facility getting acclimated to his new role. 

Moore replaced former acting administrator Alicia Emmerich, who had served in that role after administrator Shari Kruep was fired in September for failure to report abuse allegations.

Oak Hill was also a topic of Monroe County Treasurer Kevin Koenigstein’s review of county finances Monday morning.

Through the first seven months of the current fiscal year, Oak Hill’s operating budget is in the black, standing at $822,389 of revenue minus expenses, Koenigstein reported.

The news is welcome for the facility, which posted operating losses of $144,619 and $319,603 in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, respectively.

From the county’s 2021 budget year through FY24, Oak Hill had a negative change in net assets, falling  from just under $10.5 million at the end of 2020 to $9.25 million at the end of November 2024

While noting Oak Hill had been paying on a 2005 bond for construction of the current facility until earlier this year, Koenigstein added the recent losses had been “digging into county reserves.”

Otherwise, Koenigstein described fund balances for all other county departments as “healthy.”

Moving to the current tax cycle, Koenigstein provided commissioners with several informative charts showing long-term property tax and assessment data.

“Everything is up,” Koenigstein said, referring to assessed value of residential, commercial, industrial and farm parcels.

Farmland assessments were up 15 percent from last year, gaining over $10 million in value at $165,462,059.

Farmland first eclipsed the $100 million mark after the 2019 assessment. 

Monroe County railroad properties were down slightly.

The drop of just over $700,000 in assessed value for parcels owned by railroad companies is due to a change in the way the state calculates those values in relation to actual rail traffic, Koenigstein explained.

The leap to over $1 billion in assessed valuation of residential properties in 2024 is somewhat of a milestone in the way Monroe County is viewed from the state, Koenigstein continued.

He said most counties in Southern Illinois are considered as similar until the $1 billion mark is reached.

That total was reached with a combination of all property assessments in 2021.

Koenigstein also explained the continued growth in residential value may be due in part to more data regarding sales of houses in the $500,000 to $1 million range.

With the number of such properties increasing, Monroe County Supervisor of Assessments Dawn Goff now has more data to justify higher assessments.

Koenigstein said the more expensive homes were not able to be fairly assessed due to lack of data, but they have moved from being “underassessed” in the past to now being more “correctly assessed.”

As far as the ongoing tax collection cycle is concerned, Koenigstein reported 5 percent of property taxes have already been collected, with the first due date being Sept. 19.

The percentage reflects property owners who have paid in person or online.

Properties which use an escrow account for property tax purposes will not have their taxes paid until the end of the collection cycle, Koenigstein told the Republic-Times. 

Monroe County has enjoyed tax collection rates of 99 percent or higher for most of the past 15 years.    

“Most counties don’t get that level of collection,” Koenigstein said.

He explained that tax sales for non-payment on derelict properties have failed to attract any buyers in certain counties, which leads to lower tax collection overall.

In a moment of levity, Koenigstein presented the “Commissioners Cup,” a miniature plastic travelling trophy which will be awarded to the county commissioner who is the first to make a complete payment of property taxes.

In other business, a serious levee issue in the extreme southern part of Monroe County was discussed.

Monroe County Public Safety Director Kevin Scheibe was scheduled to be on hand to discuss a deteriorating section of levee just north of Prairie du Rocher – although he was not present at the meeting due to attending a funeral.

Green described an emerging “scour hole” in the levee which could threaten 45,000 acres and more than 500 residences if the levee fails.

Scheibe is expected to report on grant proposals and surveying at the site during a future meeting. 

Commissioners noted the levee failure is not due to de-accreditation of a 15-mile stretch of levee near Prairie du Rocher several years ago. 

In other business, commissioners approved another six months of the Monroe County EMS free “no treat, no transport” policy.

Under the initiative which began last year, Monroe County residents who do not receive medical treatment or transportation following a visit by Monroe County EMS personnel are not charged. 

Monroe County Ambulance Director Carla Heise said she might suggest a minimum charge be implemented for such calls when the policy is reviewed in six months due to a possible Medicaid funding cut and to reduce a small incidence of misuse of the free service. 

Monroe County Zoning Administrator Chris Voelker was also at Monday’s meeting to have two ag-related floodplain construction permits approved.

The next meeting of the Monroe County Board will begin at 8:15 p.m. Aug. 4 at the Monroe County Courthouse.