Primary voters approved a referendum March 17 that will levy a 0.5% limited sales tax for a mental health board to distribute an estimated $14.7 million annually to service providers and programs.
Nearly 53% of Sangamon County primary voters supported the referendum, which received 17,300 votes. Only about 24% of registered voters, roughly 33,500 people, in Sangamon County cast ballots during the primary election.
Sangamon County Board Chair Andy Van Meter recently told Illinois Times that the county expects to nominate members to the mental health board within a month or so, if the referendum passed. He also said he expected the board to end up closer to nine individuals rather than seven.
Ryan Croke, president of the Mid-Illinois Medical District, sent a statement to Illinois Times celebrating the vote.
“Tonight, more than 17,000 voters across Sangamon County delivered an extraordinary, history-making victory – and with it, a solemn responsibility to strengthen the local systems that support families facing mental illness, substance use disorders and developmental disabilities,” Croke wrote. “This win puts us on a path to make our neighborhoods safer and healthier.”
A wide range of community leaders, along with both hospitals and every health care organization in Sangamon County, supported the referendum that would use revenue from a limited sales tax to distribute millions of tax dollars to social service and mental health care providers through a dedicated mental health board. Local taxes as a funding mechanism for mental health services is something two-thirds of counties in Illinois have already approved, although most utilize property taxes.
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Winnebago County voters overwhelmingly approved the sales tax referendum during the 2020 primary election with about 62% voting in favor. Winnebago, where Rockford is located, is in its second year of a three-year, almost $60 million plan to fund more than three dozen social service programs that focus on mental health treatment, case management, crisis response, housing and more. The Sangamon County Mental Health Commission recommended a mental health board adopt a similar strategy of planning three years ahead in addition to current fiscal year budgeting.
In 2024, just about 53% of McHenry County voters approved a switchover from property tax to sales tax to fund their mental health board. Last month, McHenry County, which has had a mental health board since 1967, reported an increase in mental health funding after its first year of funding the board through a sales tax. In its current fiscal year, McHenry County’s Mental Health Board committed around $10 million to more than 30 different organizations.
Champaign County, which is closer in population size to Sangamon County, utilizes a property tax to fund nearly 40 programs with about $6 million. Among other programs, the Champaign County Mental Health Board is currently funding crisis co-response teams, reentry housing vouchers for people exiting prison, general affordable housing vouchers and programs that hire specialized therapists such as counselors for pregnant women, children or survivors of sexual assault.
This story will be updated with final results.
