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Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim shared with us what the Treasurer's Office does and about the changes she has made since being elected. This office is responsible for the safe keeping and investment of the cash collected as well as the collecting and distribution of the taxes levied by the 293 taxing districts in Lake County. Before running for Treasurer, she was a Trustee for the Village of Mundelein and it was there she saw ways to streamline services and fees. When she took office in 2019, she started implementing her goals to do the same. The Treasurer's Office has two main tasks - the Treasurer's duties are include payroll, banking, accounts payable nd investing. When she took office she realized some investments were made outside the county, she made the commitment to reinvest more of that money in Lake County. Among those are municipal bonds: Hawthorn D73, Mundelein HS D120, Lake Bluff Elementary D65, North Chicago D187, NSSD112, Warren D121, Grayslake D46, Wauconda D118, Round Lake D116, Gurnee D56, City of North Chicago and the Lake County Forest Preserve District. Currently 69% of your county tax dollar is for schools (average number - some are more than others), 2% for townships, 3% for parks, 3% for LCFPD, 3% for Fire, 7% for Lake County, 9% for cities and villages, and 4% for other. Under her leadership the investment income has grown exponentially. In FY2016 is total just over $1.5M, in 2017 it was $1.9M, 2018 it was $2.2M. In 2019 it went up to $7M and in 2020 it was $9.7M. The office's operating budget is $1.5M, so for every $1 of taxpayer money that enters the office, they receive $8 in (a very nice) return! On the collector's side of the job, her office works with the county's taxing bodies to collect the taxes levied and then distribute those finds to the taxing districts. She re-negotiated the e-check fee to $0 with the processor and developed the option to receive e-notices as well as pay online.. This reduces, paper and printing costs. Her office has educational videos available as well as financial literacy classes. There are monthly newsletters as well as social media presence for the office. This year she is planning on an internship through the WEL STEAM program. WEL (work, earn, learn towards a career) and STEAM (Science Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics). This will be possible because of a grant the office applied for and received. She works closely with Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza and Treasurer Michael Frerichs for what State funds may be available for our county. Below are some links in regards to some of the subjects she talked about. |
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