Gillespie-Benld Area Ambulance Service, Inc. is putting the finishing touches on what has been a tremendously successful year. 2025 brought significant positive changes to the organization, marking a period of internal growth and operational enhancements.

According to Gillespie-Benld Area Ambulance Service, Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer, Josh Ross, the year represented a pivotal time for the organization. “We have seen an enormous amount of growth since our founding in 1988. As our response area, fleet, and call volume increased exponentially, it became essential for our internal operations and infrastructure to keep pace. Our Board of Directors emphasized ensuring that our company matched the volume and scope of work that we do.”

Ross highlighted key developments made in 2025 that are already paying dividends. “What we have been able to achieve this year is almost unbelievable. We invested over $1.5 million to improve the entire organization from top to bottom. This included the purchase of four new ambulances to replace aging units in our fleet and the remounting of a fifth ambulance, which will be in service immediately after the new year. We have also made critical tech upgrades that enhance both the efficiency and security of our operations.”

A major focus for Ross and the Board this year has been on personnel investment. “What I’m most proud of is our commitment to our greatest asset—our personnel. We made a concerted effort not only in our ability to recruit great people but also retain them. This year, we offered across-the-board impactful wage increases, expanded our benefits to include vision and dental coverage in addition to our already robust health insurance plan, and launched a company-sponsored retirement plan with a match feature.”

Founded in 1988 as a 501C3 not-for-profit, all-volunteer basic life support ambulance provider, Gillespie-Benld Area Ambulance Service, Inc. has come a long way from running 651 calls for service in its first year. Today, the organization provides 24/7/365 primary 911 advanced life support ambulance service to 325 square miles of Macoupin County, encompassing approximately 17,000 residents. In 2025, the service is on track to respond to over 5,600 calls for assistance.

For more information about Gillespie-Benld Area Ambulance Service, Inc. and its commitment to excellence in emergency medical services, please contact Josh Ross at (217) 839-3032 or josh@gbasil.net.

Members of the Benld City Council on Monday night approved a $127,159.14 levy for 2025 property taxes to be collected in 2026, and approved Mayor Jim Kelly’s appointment of a new City Treasurer to step into a position vacated by the resignation of Cindy Crites last month.

The new levy, approved unanimously on a motion by Finance Chair Jerry Saracco, seconded by Ald. John. Balzraine, is up about $3,583 from last year’s total levy of $123,576.03. A total of $112,146 is being levied for municipal funds, plus $15,013.14 for the Benld Public Library. 

Broken down by line item, the levy ordinance requests $31,400 for Corporate Administrative Purposes, compared with $30,500 levied last year; $1,200 for the Municipal Band, which is unchanged from last year; $5,500 for Parks, compared with $5,350 for the previous year; $47,000 for Police Protection, compared with $44,636 last year; $5,200 for Social Security, compared with $5,000 a year ago; $200 for Unemployment Insurance, which compares with $1,200 last year; $2,450 for Workers Compensation Insurance, which is unchanged from a year ago; and $6,500 for Liability Insurance, which is also unchanged form last year.

The Public Library’s levy, at $15,013.14, up slightly from the previous year’s levy request of $14,590.03. 

Like other taxing bodies in Macoupin County, Benld is subject to the  Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL), approved by Macoupin voters in 1995, which limits annual levy increases to no more than five percent of the previous year’s tax extension or the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less. The current CPI, essentially the rate of inflation, currently is 2.9 percent. 

Because of PTELL, taxing bodies typically levy for slightly more than they expect to receive. The new levy will be submitted to the Macoupin County Clerk, who is responsible for calculating the appropriate tax rates to generate the maximum extension to which the taxing body is entitled.

NEW CITY TREASURER

Wendi Bolin of Benld was sworn-in by City Attorney Rick Verticchio as City Treasurer after the council unanimously ratified Mayor Kelly’s appointment of Bolin to finish the term vacated as a result of former Treasurer Cindy Crite’s resignation last month.

Bolin has an extensive background in finance and is currently employed as a Trust Operations Officer by CNB Bank and Trust.

Crites resigned due to a change in residence out of the Benld city limits. She was elected to a third term in 2023. Bolin will serve until the end of Crite’s unexpired term in 2027. 

MFT RESOLUTION

On the recommendation of Doug Raterman of HMG Engineers, the council agreed to submit a Motor Fuel Tax resolution in the amount of $110,000 to Illinois Department of Transportation for next year’s street maintenance program. Raterman said the appropriation, which is subject to final approval by IDOT, should be enough to cover the city’s oiling/chipping program with some margin for contingencies.

Responding to a question, Raterman told the council the city has some streets that would benefit from milling and resurfacing similar to work the City of Mount Olive has done to its streets. He said he would develop a cost estimate and provide it to the council.

MULTIJURISDICTIONAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN

By a unanimous vote, the council adopted the 2025 Macoupin County All Hazards Mitigation plan, a document that identifies mitigation goals and actions to reduce long-term risk to citizens and property in Benld. The plan specifically addresses natural and man-made hazards, including severe thunderstorms, severe winter storms, floods and tornadoes. Ultimately, adopting the plan could make the city eligible for federal funds from the Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, National Flood Insurance Act and National Dam Safety Program Act.

Units of local government throughout the county have or are expected to adopt the plan to form a county-wide disaster relief alliance. Among the conditions of the resolution approved Monday night is a commitment to participate in annual evaluation and updating the plan.

BACKHOE REPAIR

Council members voted unanimously to accept a bid of $3,230.18 to make repairs to the city’s backhoe.

BUSINESS LICENSE

On a motion by Ald. Dustin Fletcher, the council voter unanimously to approve the business license application for James Perini, who plans to open a lawn mowing business.

CIVIC CENTER INTERNET

The council agreed to install internet service at the old city hall/civic center complex. Some persons renting the civic center for events or family gatherings have asked for wifi service and the internet is needed for some aspects of the security cameras. Madison Communications offered basic services at $74.90 per month, or $79.90 a month if the city signed a one-year contract with a higher speed. City Clerk Terri Koyne recommended going with the lower price, noting the city can always upgrade later if needed.

The council also accepted a bid from Carpani Computers, Benld, to provide a wifi router at a cost of $50, plus labor.

OTHER ACTION

In other action, the council:

• Voted to allow Third Day, a non-profit group that provides food and supplies for underprivileged students, to use office space in the now vacated Police Station to pack boxes for distribution to students.

Advertisement

• Voted to make the meeting room in the now vacant former city hall available to non-profit/civic organizations meetings and other uses.

• Approved the schedule of council meetings and committee meetings for the coming calendar year. Council meetings will continue to be held at 6 p.m. on the third Monday of each month, while committee meetings will take place on the first Monday of each month except when the first Monday conflicts with federal holidays.

Comments

comments

Members of the Community Unit School District 7 Board of Education voted Monday night to commit the next round of Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) grant money to completion of the Plum Street renovation project, with the understanding the school district will not participate financially in future city street improvements and provided the City of Gillespie regrades a drainage ditch on LJ Avenue between the High School and football field, and corrects a drainage ditch between the football field and baseball field.

In other action, the board finalized the 2025 property tax levy for taxes to be collected in 2026, and welcomed two student representatives to the board.

The action followed a lengthy discussion about the role the school district should be expected to play in bringing Plum Street up to a level of repair to support school bus traffic.

The board previously committed about $89,000 in CEJA grant money to the project. With Monday night’s vote, the school district is committing about an additional $70,000 to completing the Plum Street project.

Plum Street has been a focus for the school district and city government since the district synchronized class start and end times at all three attendance centers. That change necessitated rerouting 10 buses onto to Plum Street in the morning and afternoon. City officials said the additional weight and traffic soon caused Plum Street to quickly deteriorate. The current project includes milling, repaving, drainage improvement and reinforcement of the road base to handle bus traffic.

The original engineers for the project were fired after it was discovered that the company allegedly had not filed proper paperwork with the Illinois Department of Transportation to secure approval to proceed with construction. The deficiency pushed construction to next spring at the earliest. Earlier this month, the new engineers came in with a new, more complete quote for the project that came in at $350,000—upward of $150,000 more than the city had anticipated.

Supt. Shane Owsley told the board he had spoken with Mayor Landon Pettit who suggested the new estimate could be more than the city could afford even with the $89,000 in CEJA money the school district had already committed.

“My No. 1 concern is the safety of students, as I’m sure it is with you,” Owsley said. He recommended committing the next round of CEJA grant money—about $70,000— to the project to ensure its completion before the 2026-27 school year with the provision the school could use the street for bus traffic “in perpetuity.”

Owsley said city officials told him the city cannot complete the project without the participation of the school district or cutting significantly into funds destined for maintaining other streets in the city.

Board members Bill Carter and Dennis Tiburzi both expressed reservations about putting more money into the project, suggesting the school district should not be in the “business of building streets.”

“I don’t want to be here next month being asked for more money,” Tiburzi commented. “We’re the largest employer in the area and I’m sorry, but they (the city) need to take care of the roads. We all pay road taxes.”

“What happens if they (the city) run out of money?” Carter asked. “Or the street falls apart five years from now? This one rubs me a little wrong. I worry about what happens down the road.”

Board President Mark Hayes said the city is willing to commit equipment and manpower to clean ditches along LJ Avenue and between the football field and baseball field. Board member Weye Schmidt agreed that the city should take responsibility for drainage improvements to eliminate “the swamp” that backs up behind the school’s Vocational Building.

The motion to commit anticipated CEJA grant funding to the Plum Street project provided the school’s attorney drafts an intergovernmental agreement signed by both parties committing the city to finishing the project, correcting drainage issues on LJ Avenue and between the football and baseball fields, granting the school a right to use Plum Street for buses in perpetuity, and acknowledging the school will not participate financially in future street improvements.

“For the safety of our children, I think this is the best option,” Hayes noted.

TAX LEVY

The board voted unanimously to approve a proposed property tax levy request following a brief public hearing required by law because the request exceeds last year’s tax extension by more than 105 percent.

Though legally mandated, there were no members of the public and no questions or comments about the levy during the three-minute hearing.

Owsley, who presented a formal analysis of the levy proposal during the November board meeting, again pointed out that the $3,920,295 levy request for 2025 property taxes collectible in 2026 exceeds what the district actually expects to receive in property tax revenue. Because of tax caps and other factors, however, the district expects to collect only an estimated $3,786,607 of the requested amount. 

“We ask for more because we don’t know what our equalized assessed valuation will be,” Owsley noted. In calculating the levy, Owsley estimated an increase of 15 percent in the EAV even though the average increase over the past ten years has been about 8.8 percent.

“The reason I increased the EAV as much as I did is because we have a number of solar fields coming online and if we don’t claim those increases now, we lose it forever, because we are subject to tax caps,” he said. The Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL), approved by Macoupin voters in 1995, limits the increase in the property taxes to no more than five percent or the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less. The current CPI is 2.9 percent, meaning the district can legally collect 102.9 percent of the previous year’s extension, plus any increases in the EAV and new construction.

Advertisement

“I think it’s important to point out that we have the second lowest tax rate in the county,” Bernot noted, adding that the tax rate has fallen by about $1 in the past 10 years.

DISTRICT FOCUS

The board was introduced to Maddie Durston, a sophomore who will join Student Council President Emily Bergen, as student representatives on the Board of Education beginning in January. Durston is next in line to become Student Council President. Bergen was unable to attend Monday’s meeting due to a prior commitment.

Supt. Owsley told the board that during a recent educators conference in Chicago “one of the things we kept running into was student voices.”

“Obviously we hear from administrators and we hear from teachers,” Owsley noted. “Who we don’t hear from are the students themselves.” Current board policy permits the annual appointment of the Student Council President to serve as a student representative on the board. Student representatives can participate in board discussions but cannot cast a vote. They also are prohibited from joining executive sessions.

“When we want to see what students views are on any particular subject, we’ll have a student right here to tell us,” Owsley said.

High School Principal Jill Rosentreter had high praise for both Bergen and Durston.

“I’m super excited to recommend Emily and Maddie,” she said. “They’re going to represent the student body very well. They’re both very well spoken. They’re both very excited to share ideas and take part in discussions.”

“I’ve been to some board meetings, and I enjoyed sitting over there and hearing things,” Durston noted. “To be on this side of the table and be a part of things is really exciting.”

PERSONNEL

Following an executive session of 35 minutes, the board voted in separate actions, to accept the resignation of Terrie Rhodes as a special education bus aide and to hire Rhodes as a full-route bus driver.

Additionally, the board voted to hire Paige Stoddard as a three-hour cafeteria worker, pending documentation of certification and a routine background check.

On a motion by Carter, seconded by Schmidt, the board voted unanimously to accept the resignation of Dan Smith as a volunteer assistant high school baseball coach.

FUND TRANSFERS/TAX ABATEMENT

In somewhat related actions, the board approved a resolution transferring $75,000 from the School Facilities Sales Tax fund to the Bond and Interest Fund to service indebtedness for previous capital improvements. The resolution also abates an equal amount in property taxes in keeping with a pledge the board made to voters before the current one percent School Facilities Sale Tax measure was passed by Macoupin voters.

The board also approved a resolution abating taxes previously levied to service a $1.6 million General Obligation Bond Issue approved in two years ago to finance capital improvement projects over the following three years. Those bonds are being serviced with revenue from the School Facilities Sale Tax fund in lieu of property tax revenue, enabling the district to abate the tax.

Both resolutions are routine items approved by the board on an annual basis.

MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL HAZARDS MITIGATION PLAN

By a unanimous vote, the board approved a resolution to participate in the 2025 Macoupin County Multi-Jurisdictional All Hazards Mitigation Plan. The plan has be written for the past two years, but Community Unit School District 7 was not included in the document.

Being included in the plan means the district could be eligible for grant funding for initiatives such as generators, grounding for electrical storms, drainage improvements, retention ponds, safety education and other items designed to mitigate against potential hazards.

“There’s no guarantee this money will ever become available,” Owsley said. “But if we don’t approve this, we won’t be able to apply for funds.”

BUILDING AND GROUNDS

Hayes and Owsley briefly reviewed discussions that took place recently during a meeting of the Building and Grounds Committee with Building Manager Brian Page. Owsley said Page presented an extensive list of improvements that have been completed, including adding a press box at the baseball field, completing a new weight room with HVAC improvements, an updated fire alarm system, a new intercom system, completion of a sidewalk between BenGil Elementary School and the high school.

“We’ve actually done a lot,” Owsley said, “a lot of improvements.” With revenue still available from the district’s Alternate Revenue bond issue, the district plans to resurface the track around the football field this summer.

While a number of improvements have been completed, Owsley said the school wants to be “proactive” in selecting the projects it takes on in the near future. As an example, Owsley pointed out the insurance policy accepted by the board depreciates roofs on the basis of a 20-year lifespan.

Advertisement

“If that’s the case, we probably don’t want any roofs that are more than 20 years old,” he said.

Owsley said he met with the school architect to discuss probable upcoming projects and discuss how the district can pay for them. The entire middle school roof is approaching the 20-year limit and will need to be replaced. A portion of the barreled roof over the high school gym will need to be replaced, and the high school HVAC system is approaching its 20-year life expectancy.

Page reportedly prepared a spreadsheet of possible projects, the age of the current installations and the expected life expectancy. The document is meant to help the district target the most urgent projects and prioritize them.

“The second question is how do we pay them?” Owsley commented.

“We’re at a point with some of our bonds that we may need to extend them out or refinance them,” Hayes said. School officials plan to ask Kevin Wills of Bernardi Securities, O’Fallon, to attend an upcoming meeting to explain how the board can issue Life Safety bonds without significantly impacting local taxes.

“We want to find a way to get this work done without dropping a lot of extra tax on our residents,” Owsley said. Payments to retire existing bonds are set to increase from $900,000 a year to $1.2 million. By extending the term of existing bonds by a few years could keep interest payments down and provide enough breathing room to issue Life Safety bonds for upcoming work.

Owsley said the district wants to “complete these projects rather than wait for something to happen” and have to find a way immediately to finance the work.

OTHER ACTION

In accordance with the state’s Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act, the board agreed to destroy audio recordings of close sessions older than 18 months, and voted unanimously to keep recent executive session minutes sealed.

Comments

comments