Champaign Co. (ECWd) –
Many have wondered how you can make a difference when it comes to fixing the out of control spending in some of our public bodies.
The first step is knowing where the money is going so the right questions can be asked. As we reported in this article, this agency purchased a life size Penis costume for the Gay Pride parade and claimed it was HIV Prevention Equipment. We all know that such a costume has nothing to do with HIV prevention.
Public health related, or someone’s agenda?
What else is this agency spending your money on? When you go through this list simply ask yourself, what public purpose related to a health department do these purchases have. If you cannot identify a public purpose for the health department, then chances are it is an illegal purchase. Please note that the law is very clear and tells them what they can spend their money on, and rest assured these items are not found in the statute. (Health District Act)
- $1,059.85- for Pride T-Shirts – line 2011 of spread sheet
- $396.06- for Secretary Gifts – line 29 of spread sheet
- $1,225.21- for Comcast Cable – line 4358 of spread sheet
- $9,144.96- for sports equipment – line 5898 of spread sheet
- $39.50- for chain saw rental – line 5942 of spread sheet
- $18.21- for Pride Parade Supplies & Postage – line 9650 of spread sheet
- $35.00- Premier Rewards membership – line 10703 of spread sheet
- $125.00 – DONATION – All in the Jeans Day – line 10771 of spread sheet
- $534.50 – Mommy and Me T-Shirts – line 10942 of spread sheet
- $20,000.00 – Regional Planning Commission – line 11359 of spread sheet
- $1,000.00 – for Gas Cards — line 13155 of spread sheet
- $476.00 – United Way contributions – line 13382 of spread sheet
- $7,310.01 – for University of Illinois bike ride activities – line 13418- 13431 of spread sheet
- $451.00 – for Bike racks for the Urbana Park District – line 13475 of spread sheet
- $3,594.00 – for umbrellas – line 13681 of spread sheet
- Over $50K in “Confidential ‘Rent’ Payments”
(Click here to review entire spread sheet -Excel format)
Clearly many of these expenditures are questionable to say the least. A 30 minute review of this spread sheet resulted in the above findings.
Once you have identified the questionable expenditures it is time to file a another Freedom of Information request for more details related to the spending. We submitted a request for receipts, purchase orders, invoices etc. for many of the above listed items.
Once we receive that information we will prove how many of these expenditures are not within the scope of a Public Health District Act.
