County Board Study Session 1-7-2013 –

EDGAR CO. (ECWd) –

“We Need To Get The County Off This Note”

In a surprise (to us) move, Jeff Voight mentioned the need to figure out the situation with a “real estate owner financed” property deeded with a warrantee deed, in which Edgar County is on the hook for. Sorry Jeff, but the Edgar County taxpayers are stuck with it – until it is paid in full. You can thank all of the county board member since the ambulance service was “sold” to Dee Burgin (and his wife) – I know, using the term “sold” would imply Dee actually paid something for it, which we know is a lie.

Why The Confusion?

What surprised us is the fact someone was willing to discuss it. We first shed light on this situation in this article, and this article, starting  ALMOST TWELVE  MONTHS AGO!!! We told the board at several board meetings there was a balloon payment coming due – no one listened.

In those articles we detailed the fact that the entire sale of the ambulance service was one big illegal act – and Dee Burgin DID NOT PAY for the ambulance service – that’s right, he still owes $100,000 plus interest – his wife signed the contract also, so she is liable for the payments (hope she gets that stipulated in the final divorce settlement) – and the county has until September 2013 to start collections, which we doubt they will do since none of them have the gonads to take action. SO, Edgar County taxpayers got screwed again for $100,000 and nobody is willing to put a stop to it.

The Real Estate “Mortgage”

The illegal real estate loan – Just in case you forgot, the county took out a $300,000 loan on property when the sale price was only $245,000 – which means they used the extra $55,000 to cover budget shortfalls for that year. This was intitially supposed to be a 20 year loan, but ended up being a 5 year loan. Yes, it is all documented.

The Deed

A Warrantee Deed for public property is illegal – but in another lawless act, the taxpayers of Edgar County are stuck with that lawless act by the former county board also. Issuing a warrantee deed is issuing public credit (a guarantee or warrantee) for non-public use – a felony violation of Article VIII of the Constitution of the State of Illinois.

Loan Renewal

The second loan in 2008, signed by Jim Keller and Merle Clark, without board approval or knowledge, was another illegal act by the Chairman of the Board and should result in both being liable, personally, for the entire loan amount. The county representative and the loan officer that didn’t ask for the required approvals – is that why he is still on the 911 board?

 Loan Collateral?

NO COLLATERAL ! – There is no collateral listed on the loan documents!

 Watchdog questions:

Can we “move forward” on this issue without “looking back” and taking action?

What happens now?

How does Edgar County pay the $244,000 balloon payment next month?

Are the county taxpayers stuck with this illegal unsecured loan?

Will anyone be held accountable?

Will the county ever seek to collect on the non-payment of a $100,000 promisary note from Dee Burgin?

What happens when the (real estate) note doesn’t get paid?

Will another illegal loan be taken out?

Should we start a legal action fund to take actions in civil court naming Dee Burgin (and his wife), Jim Keller, and Merle Clark as defendants seeking recovery of these funds in the name of the county?

$100,000 + $244,000 = $344,000 plus atty fees and costs — that will cut the Edgar County deficit by almost 60% !