News Progress

Photo by Mike Brothers
Moultrie County Animal Control Warden Sam Donaker (left) and Animal Control Ambassador Ruby retired at the first of the year. New Animal Control Warden Moultrie County Deputy Caleb Smith (right) presented Donaker with a certificate of appreciation for his dedicated service as Animal Control Warden. Facility director Betsy Miller (center) presented Ruby with her favorite “Pupperoni” treat for serving as Sam’s companion and animal control ambassador.

•January 8, 2020•
By Mighty Manfred
for The News Progress

There is a new warden in Moultrie County.
Animal Control Warden Sam Donaker and his trusty sidekick, Ruby retired from full time duties in Moultrie County January 1, 2020.
Deputy Caleb Smith is the new Animal Control Warden and Emergency Services and Disaster Agency director with offices at the Animal Control Shelter.
Sam and Ruby’s retirement was recognized last week with shelter pet facilitator Betsy Miller and Smith presenting the pair with a certificate of appreciation and Pupperoni Treats.
Sam passed on the treats, but Ruby did not.
Deputy Smith noted Donaker’s love of animals and Ruby’s instinct for matching good owners with pets had helped make Moultrie County Animal Control successful.
“Sam and Ruby have done a great job of taking care of the shelter,” Smith said, explaining he looks forward to their occasional visits.
While Donaker was warden Bekki Stevens started a Facebook page which was utilized along with local pet adoption groups to keep the population of dogs and cats at a minimum in Moultrie County.
With a capacity for up to ten dogs, there were only two awaiting adoption when Donaker and Ruby arrived.
Sam indicated he was happy to turn over the reigns to Deputy Smith, but explained that Ruby would require periodic visits to make sure things are going the way they should be. Read More

•January 1, 2020•
By Ariana Cherry
for The News Progress

A public hearing on the 2019 tax levy took place at the ALAH School Board meeting on December 18.
Last year, due to a new increased balance in the IMRF funds, a balloon levy was proposed. The levy will continue to be stable at a relatively low tax rate. Before the hearing, the levy had been on public file for 30 days and a notification was also put in the newspaper. There were no public calls concerning the levy during that time. A motion was made to approve the 2019 tax levy of 3.54 and it was approved.
“Compared to last year at this time, we have $137,000 more in expense items. That is really good, because we’ve had an increase in salaries,” Supt. Shannon Creek explained. “When you consider the increase in salaries and the roof project, we are in really good shape.”
In the Treasurer’s Report he noted “We’ve accumulated 24% expenses up to this point for this fiscal year, so we are right on track if not a little bit ahead.” Read More

•January 1, 2020•
In the December 18 News Progress front page story on Genny Sutton’s 102 birthday honor some names were unintentionally omitted. They included Jacob Moritz, great grandson; Jonathan Inman, grandson and Mary Lou Kidwell, sister.

•December 25, 2019•
By Mike Brothers

With the quadrennial assessments published and county tax notices in the mail Supervisor of Assessments Lori Barringer pointed out Moultrie County Board members may be questioned about property tax bills.
Barringer explained that the Assessments office staff had logged some 237 hours transferring hand completed Real Estate Transfer Declarations into an electronic format. She emphasized transferring documents into electronic data would improve accuracy as well as save office time in the future.
The Supervisor of Assessments reported the Equalized Assessed Valuation of property in the county is $282,990,701 before the Board of Review accepts challenges. This is a seven percent increase over last year. Read More