Quincy Reporter

Adams County officials are being asked to cut spending by 5% as part of a plan to reopen the local economy.

The Adams County Local Regionalized Plan is in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The plan has already gained the approval of both the county’s health and emergency management departments.

“Partially get the door open, you know open businesses with reduced attendance, like restaurants with maybe 25%,” Board Chair Kent Snider told KHQA. “What they call non-essential businesses to possibly let them open with a reduced amount of people in the building at the same time. Let people open where maybe the customer has a mask and or the employees all have a mask.”

As of May 31, Illinois reported 120,600 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including 5,390 deaths. Adams County has 44 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Snider said he planned to quickly submit the plan that mirrors that in effect in Quincy to the governor’s office.

The 5% percent cut on non-payroll items is part of a plan to offset what is expected to a 20% revenue cut to the budget. In addition to a hiring freeze, the county is also contemplating a freeze on capital spending and dipping into special funds.

“There are a lot of tough choices there,” Finance Chairman Bret Austin told KHQA. “A lot of tough choices and if we think we are going to get some 100% reimbursement from the state, you can forget that now, that is not going to happen. We will get some bailout but we will not get anything close to what we are going to lose in sales tax and other taxes.”