Tazewell County Clerk says staffing budget is lowest since 2007

TAZEWELL COUNTY, Ill. (WMBD) — Tazewell County Clerk John Ackerman says his staffing budget is the lowest it’s been since 2007.

He says he’s been able to increase employee pay while decreasing the department’s budget. However, he says he’s cut nearly 20 percent of the office’s budget for 2021.

“With everything going on, to be able to maintain costs right where they were, I think that’s a statement of its own about the efficiencies of the office,” said Ackerman.

The money saved comes from redistricting precincts, changing where votes are counted and a new election supplies contract.

Ackerman says the budget also includes raises for election judges and county clerk staff, something the county board disapproved of last year.

“The employees deserved it. This puts them at a level that’s on par with their peers throughout the area. It’s a note of the work that they do. In return, as you see, they’ve really strived to find every way that we can streamline to growth, strengthen, and improve our office,” said Ackerman.

He says the office is streamlining its services and saving taxpayer dollars.

“We haven’t shrunk services, we’ve actually increased services to the public. We haven’t cut staff, we’ve maintained the same staff level, I’ve actually boosted it up just a bit with some part-time employees. We’ve cut wasteful over time,” said Ackerman.