December 2004 Board Meeting Report

The Illinois Valley Community College Board of Trustees approved its 2004 tax levy rate and extension in Wednesday night’s meeting. The total tax rate is projected to be .4386 cents, which is .0163 cents (or 3.6%) less than last year’s actual tax rate of .4549 cents.

The levy is based on optimistic projections for equalized assessed valuation growth at about 4.9%, said Jerry Corcoran, Vice President for Business Services and Finance.

"Our levy rate will have dropped by approximately .03 cents over two years. At the same time, our sources from Springfield are telling us not to expect increased support from the State of Illinois for next fiscal year, which presents a challenge during tough economic times. We're doing our best to get more from less and that's a credit to our board and administration," said Corcoran.

Dr. Robert P. Marshall, Vice President for Student Services, reported on IVCC student characteristics. The average student is 27 years old, and 59 percent of the 4,610 students are female. Most IVCC students work at least 15 hours per week and 1,250 (about 27 percent) work full-time.

More high school graduates have chosen IVCC as their institution of higher learning in 2004 with over 50 percent of students attending from LaSalle Peru High School, a 16 percent increase alone from 2003.

"Nearly a third of area high school graduates chose IVCC, a phenomenal market share, given the options graduate have such as universities, trade schools, apprenticeship programs, and the military," said Dr. Marshall.

The board heard a presentation from Professors Dorene Perez, Jim Gibson and retired professor Dr. Rosemarie Lynch, invited international guests at the American Society of Engineering Educators, on their conference and presentation in China.

In other business, the board

  • Authorized the Business Office to accept the bid from Daktronics, Inc. of Brookings, South Dakota in the amount of $12,870 as the lowest, responsive and responsible bid for the purchase of two scoreboards, two shot clocks, two wireless controls, removal of existing system and installation and testing of the proposed system.
  • Authorized the Business Office to accept the bid from D. J. Sickley Construction, Peru, IL in the amount of $144,477 for the exterior ADA compliance project. The total amount of this project is $207,424.70.
  • Approved the one-year contract between IVCC and LaSalle County for $303,365 to continue to provide computing services and support for the period of Dec. 1, 2004 to Nov. 30, 2005.
  • Authorized the Business Office to accept the bid of $155.25 per acre from Keith Gehm for the cash farm lease.
  • Appointed Melissa J. Killian to fill the position of Counselor and approved the appointment of David J. Kinczewski to fill the position of Welding Technology Instructor at Sheridan Correctional Center.