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Name: Todd Milliron
Office sought: Kendall County Board, District 1
Party: Republican
Town of residence: Yorkville
Age: 61
Education / training:
BS, Political Science, Kansas State University
Where are you currently employed? What is your title?
Milliron Insurance Services since March of 1987, Independent Insurance Agent
Have you ever held elective or appointive public office before? If yes, please list those offices.
Appointed to Kendall County 2016-2020 Solid Waste Citizens Advisory Committee which made recommendations to the Kendall County Board to update the mandated 5-year Countywide Solid Waste Plan. Elected Republican Precinct Committeeman for Fox Township in 2014. Currently Fox 1 Republican Precinct Committeeman
What are the 3 biggest issues facing the county?
I think the three biggest issues are:
The escalating double-digit County Employee Health Insurance costs, which are the fastest growing segment of the county budget; Employee time on and off the job is not being tracked properly; and Too high property taxes
Here are my suggestions to solve these problems:
(1) Replace the County Employee’s (CASH) Health Savings Account (HSA) with a debit-card based Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) for actual medically necessary claims incurred, estimated savings $300,000 annually. For 2019, the Cadillac County Health Ins Renewal premium is now projected to go up 15 percent.
(2) Go to one centralized payroll system that is “Cloud” based and incorporates biometric time clock features. An example of a biometric feature, that is unique to you, is your hand or palm print, which can be read by a scanner in the time clock and physically determines you were present at a given time and place where your work station is located. This addresses a 2011 problem found by County Auditor Tonya Mack, labeled as Deficiency Finding 2011-#08, which is outstanding and has yet to be properly addressed.
3) Put the County Checkbook online at the Kendall County website so other watchdog citizens can also help monitor what is being spent. The only way to control escalating property taxes is to monitor and control local government spending, then open up the annual budgeting process to all 10 county board members so the other 5 county board members that are not part of KCB Finance Committee also have their input considered early in the budgeting process. Presently the Annual KCB Budget cake gets baked each year by KCB Finance Chairman Purcell and the other four KCB Finance Committee members. That process is ongoing now within the Finance Committee as this questionnaire was being answered in mid-Sept. Then in late October, with little time left for any debate, the drafted budget is presented to the full board, leaving little time to discuss or amend line items that are a concern to the other 5 KCB members who do not sit on the Finance Committee. It is presently a take it or leave it process, because the completed budget is required by law to go on display for 30 days and must be approved by majority vote before December 1 st every year.
What do you see as the role of the Forest Preserve District in county government? Should the Forest Preserve District continue to invest in the Ken Pickerill home and the Ellis House Equestrian Center? Or should the focus be on acquiring more natural land? Or both? Neither?
The Role of the Kendall Forest Preserve (KFP) is fundamentally different than that of the Kendall County Board (KCB), yet the same 10 elected officials do both jobs. The deck just gets shuffled on who is elected chairman and vice-chairman. The KFP fundamentally is a want. The KCB oversees and funds basic government needs. Ten years ago a KFP bond referendum was passed to obtain $40,000,000 in funding for land acquisition. Most of that bond referendum money has now been spent and that bond money could only be spent for buying land. The land holdings for the KFP have been vastly increased over the past decade, but not the KFP funding for operations and maintenance. Presently much of the purchased farm land acreage is now being converted back to natural habitat, with the corresponding loss of farm rent revenue, further straining the ability to fund KFP operations and maintenance.
At a recent KFP meeting it was disclosed that the Ellis Horse Equestrian Center was operating in the black. Revenue was exceeding expenses for this location. So if revenue can be set aside and banked for Ellis operations and maintenance I could support that trend. Pickerill-Picket just had a Master Plan proposed to develop this Forest Preserve off Minkler Road, so there is a Road Map with 50/50 Grant Funding for step by step improvements and if an intergovernmental partnership with Oswego Park District can be agreed to, additional funding may be available to make those planned improvements quicker. I am hopeful that this can be accomplished in conjunction with the Oswego Park District. I am all for Forest Preserve locations that are being used and enthusiastically support ones that are self-sustaining by their own revenue stream. These special land parcels that have been acquired by KFP for open space preservation have a deep connection to the rich agricultural history of our county and will one day become the Crown Jewels of Kendall County for all to enjoy.
What is the best policy for funding the county’s Health Department, particularly its benefits and salaries? The past and current policy has been to require the department to contribute money to the county’s General Fund – is this the correct strategy?
No, it is not the correct strategy to require the Health Dept. to contribute money to the general fund. At the present rate under current policy the Health Dept. operating reserves will be depleted in 4 to 5 years. The current 2016-2018 Kendall County Board Finance Committee policy presently requires the Health Dept. to foot the bill for the Health Departments benefits from operating reserves. It is not sustainable. The Health Department has its own tax levy and has been a good steward of those tax funds collected by that specific levy that was approved by the voters of Kendall back in 1972.
If elected, would you accept any county-provided health insurance benefits or mileage reimbursements?
No. At present I do not intend to take County Health Insurance. I am currently a dependent on my wife’s employers health insurance, which is the Sears Holding Company. We have been on that plan for 30 years and will be insured by Sears as long as she is employed there. I do not intend to bill taxpayers for in-county mileage. If I am required to travel out of county on county taxpayer business I will track incurred mileage, justify that mileage, and only turn in that out of county travel for reimbursement.