SPRINGFIELD — You soon might be paying more for that triple latte from your favorite coffee place.
Proponents of a new sales tax in Sangamon County say it is worth it.
Voters in the March 17 primary will weigh in on the 0.50% hike that would go to fund a 708 mental health board, a recommendation made by the Sangamon County Mental Health Commission and earlier by the Massey Commission.
That means two cents more on that $4 triple latte or 50 cents more on a $100 purchase of general retail goods.
Items exempt from the sales tax include groceries, medical equipment, prescription drugs and over-the-counter medication and anything that is purchased through a title, such as vehicles, trailers and motor homes.
But if you dine out, prepare to pay more.
The sales tax rate could boost to 10.25% in Springfield and 11.25% in the South Central Business District if voters mark “yes.”
Those are among some of the highest rates in the state. The average sales tax rate is 8.3%.
Voters can call for a “referendum only” ballot at polling places.
Given the county’s tourism numbers, the tax, supporters estimate, would generate $14.72 million annually for the board, which would coordinate and fund a network of mental health providers. A staff person would be hired but a nine-member board responsible for public reports and audits would be all-volunteer.
Sangamon is “by far the largest county” in Illinois that doesn’t have a local dedicated source of funding for a mental health board, said Ryan Croke, a Vote Yes for Mental Health volunteer and a Springfield resident.
Sangamon County Board member Marc Ayers referred to central Illinois as being in “a mental health desert.”
There are 95 such mental health boards in Illinois, 66 of them operated at the county level. The others are municipality- or township-based. Macon and Christian counties, both bordering Sangamon County, have mental health boards.
The commission study that the county undertook revealed that about 7,800 adults in the county have a serious mental illness and almost 30,000 adults struggle with a substance use disorder, Croke said. Roughly 28,000 adults with a substance use disorder have a co-occurring mental illness.
Kelly Hurst of the Massey Commission said at a presentation at the Jerome Civic Center that one-third of Sangamon County Jail inmates were court-ordered by a judge to receive mental health services.
The law that authorizes such boards allows investments intellectual and developmental disability services in the community, Croke added.
Proponents have pointed to Winnebago County, which includes Rockford, as a sort of model for Sangamon County.
Croke said a mental health board there has led to a dramatic reduction in the number of emergency room visits tied to mental health crisis. The county has been able to provide more frontline behavioral health professional first responders to support public safety, and it has expanded its specialty courts.
“It shows when you support these services on the front end, you get away from chaotic crisis situations for families who have nowhere to turn but the ER or police,” he said.
The issue has made for some unusual political alliances. A Democrat, Croke was featured in a video with former Springfield Mayor Karen Hasara, a Republican.
When people don’t see where their tax money is going to, pointed out Adam White, also with the Massey Commission at the Jerome presentation, “it’s a lot more difficult to swallow. This is a real return we’re going to be able to see, like programming for people with schizophrenia.”
Sontae Massey, a cousin of Sonya Massey and an assistant managing director on the Massey Commission, has been part of public presentations supporting the tax hike.
Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman and the mother of two children, was fatally shot inside her home by a former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy after calling 911 about a possible prowler at her home in an unincorporated area of the county on July 6, 2024.
At Sean Grayson’s murder trial in October, a police expert pointed out times when Massey showed signs of mental health or cognitive issues. Hours before her murder, Massey was the subject of a 911 call made by her mother, Donna Massey, who said she was having “a mental breakdown.”
Croke said he is falling back on the notion that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
“People believe we can have a healthier, more vibrant and safer community,” Croke said, “but there is a cost (to that).”
(This story has been updated to fix a link with a video.)
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Voters will consider sales tax proposal to fund mental health board
Reporting by Steven Spearie, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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