Hall notifies PAC and AG of OMA violation, board passes appeal to intervene in Bridle Brook assessment

The Mahomet-Seymour School board held a special meeting on June 10 after Superintendent Lindsey Hall reported the OMA violation to the Public Access Counselor at the Illinois Attorney General’s office, according to a notice sent out along with the announcement of the June 10 meeting. 

On June 1, 2022, the board of education held a meeting in order to vote on an appeal to intervene in an assessment of the Bridle Brook property, which had seen a reduction in their value. 

On May 26, 2022, one of the board’s attorneys Jeff Funk wrote to Hall stating, “As you know, the owner of Bridle Brook Assisted Living Facility has appealed the Board of Review denial of its request for a reduction in the value of the property. That appeal was filed with the Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB) on April 4. Any taxing body wishing to intervene has 60 days, or until June 3, to file a Request to Intervene with PTAB. The District and other taxing bodies have agreed to share the cost of an appraisal to submit as evidence to PTAB. PTAB allows an extension of time to submit the appraisal, so long as the Request to Intervene is timely filed. We initially experienced difficulty in retaining an appraiser, as the first two we contacted (and with whom we had previous experience) were unable or unwilling to complete an appraisal in a timely manner. We have now retained the services of Webster & Associates, with offices in Champaign and Decatur. That firm has significant experience dealing with appraisals and testifying before PTAB, and I am confident they will be satisfactory. Webster has indicated they will need an additional 60 days to complete the appraisal.”

A board resolution to appeal had to be filed by June 3.

According to a FOIA response showed that a few board members were already on vacation, that another was unsure of her plans and that two other board members were not communicated with via text or email. Hall texted the board members on behalf of Board President Max McComb giving a few dates that the meeting could take place before June 3. McComb then texted board member Colleen Schultz to try to make a quorum.

Mahomet-Seymour Board policy 2:220 states:

“A quorum of the Board must be physically present at all Board meetings. A majority of the full membership of the Board constitutes a quorum.

Provided a quorum is physically present, a Board member may attend a meeting by video or audio conference if he or she is prevented from physically attending because of (1) personal illness or disability, (2) employment or District business, or (3) a family or other emergency. If a member wishes to attend a meeting by video or audio means, he or she must notify the recording secretary or Superintendent at least 24 hours before the meeting unless advance notice is impractical. The recording secretary or Superintendent will inform the Board President and make appropriate arrangements. A Board member who attends a meeting by audio or video means, as provided in this policy, may participate in all aspects of the Board meeting including voting on any item.”

The policy goes on to state:

“The ability of the Board to meet in person with a quorum physically present at its meeting location may be affected by the Governor or the Director of the Ill. Dept. of Public Health issuing a disaster declaration related to a public health emergency. The Board President or, if the office is vacant or the President is absent or unable to perform the office’s duties, the Vice President determines that an in-person meeting or a meeting conducted under the Quorum and Participation by Audio or Video Means subhead above, is not practical or prudent because of the disaster declaration…”

The board policy also reflects the Open Meetings Act (5 ILCS 120/7:

“Sec. 7. Attendance by a means other than physical presence.

    (a) If a quorum of the members of the public body is physically present as required by Section 2.01, a majority of the public body may allow a member of that body to attend the meeting by other means if the member is prevented from physically attending because of: (i) personal illness or disability; (ii) employment purposes or the business of the public body; or (iii) a family or other emergency. “Other means” is by video or audio conference.

    (b) If a member wishes to attend a meeting by other means, the member must notify the recording secretary or clerk of the public body before the meeting unless advance notice is impractical.

    (c) A majority of the public body may allow a member to attend a meeting by other means only in accordance with and to the extent allowed by rules adopted by the public body. The rules must conform to the requirements and restrictions of this Section, may further limit the extent to which attendance by other means is allowed, and may provide for the giving of additional notice to the public or further facilitate public access to meetings.”

Having taken OMA training, and knowing board policy, the board of education met with two members present at the June 1 meeting, Max McComb and Justin Lamb while board members Sunny McMurry and Ken Keefe participated remotely. 

The board passed the resolution 4-0. But the vote was not legal, seeing as only two board members were present and the other two were online. Keefe and McMurry also did not meet the requirements provided under OMA for participating remotely. Those means have been provided for the last two years under COVID-19 mitigations, but because McComb did not declare the emergency, any board member cannot participate remotely unless the criteria is met. 

The email or tools McMurry and Keefe used to join the meeting were not provided via the FOIA response. It is evident that Keefe is told that the link is in the inbox, but there are no communications provided to or from McMurry. Superintendent Hall was asked for clarification, but no clarification has been provided. 

The video recording of the meeting was taken down the next day, and the board packet that went out on May 27 has also been taken down. 

The June 1 resolution was not filed with the PTAB. Instead, the board passed a motion to intervene on June 10. That motion should be filed with PTAB. McComb, Henrichs, Keefe and Lamb were present for that vote that passed 4-0. 

The move is to “prevent a drop in an assessment of the property that will result in a loss of approx $140,000 of property tax revenue for all area taxing bodies this current year and an increase of $140,000 to be paid by remaining area property tax payers in each year moving forward.”

Mahomet-Seymour would expect $70,000 of those property tax dollars, according to the text message sent to board members on May 26. According to Champaign County tax records, the $287265.22 of Bridle Brook’s property tax dollars went into the East Mahomet TIF fund. Per the TIF (tax increment financing) agreement, giving the district 50-percent of commercial property tax increment until 2035, the Mahomet-Seymour School District would receive half of those tax dollars: $143632.61. The school district’s property tax dollars from Bridle Brook have been split this way for the last decade and will continue to be until 2035.

Mahomet-Seymour also received $20.82 from the Bridle Brook Property tax.

The Mahomet Daily also notified the Illinois Attorney General’s office of the Open Meetings Act violation on June 1. A FOIA request for the board’s communication was sent shortly after the meeting was posted to YouTube. Although the video was taken down, the Mahomet Daily is in possession of the video, which was also shared with the AG’s office.