Funding for Wheeling Twp. mental health board hits another snag

Funding for Wheeling Township’s community mental health board, stalled for more than 18 months, now faces a new obstacle.

Township Supervisor Kathy Penner said Tuesday that an attorney has spotted a flaw in state legislation intended to clear the way for the township to levy a voter-approved property tax to fund the 708 board.

According to Penner, a Chicago-based law firm consulting the township said the legislative fix does not apply to citizen-initiated referendums, like the one Wheeling Township voters passed in 2022 to create and fund the 708 board.

“(The legislation) only cures and validates referenda initiated by acts of public bodies, not citizen-initiated referenda,” attorney Keri-Lyn Krafthefer wrote to the township board.

The 708 board is intended to collect funding through the voter-approved tax and distribute it to local agencies that address mental health, substance abuse and developmental disabilities.

However, Wheeling Township officials have steadfastly refused to levy the tax voters approved. They initially cited a flaw in the language of the referendum, but even after that was addressed last year through state legislation, township officials have not levied the tax.

Instead, officials have allocated just $90,000 to the board, well below the $1.5 million it is seeking through the tax.

Like previous township board meetings, Tuesday’s session drew mental health advocates urging the township to levy the tax.

Lorri Grainawi asked officials to allocate an amount that “actually serves the needs of the community.”

“Until that happens, we’re going to all be here showing up and doing the best that we can for the people that we care about,” she added.

Township Trustee Darrel Talken defended the board, noting that it had included $292,000 in this year’s budget for mental health services, up from $279,000 in the previous year’s budget.

The legislation, signed this year, addressed a problem found by the township’s attorney, Kenneth Florey, with the November 2022 referendum creating the mental health board and allowing the levy.

Florey said the ballot question lacked transparency language legally required by property tax extension law that would inform voters about the property tax impact on homeowners.

The legislation validated the results of the Wheeling Township referendum and other referendums lacking the transparency language.