FRANK MULHOLLAND - Daily Union Managing Editor
“We have a problem, that problem is money and that is what’s driving us, there isn’t any question about it,” was the opening statement from Dr. Robert Hoeft, extension interim director.
Dr. Hoeft went on to say the problem is with the State of Illinois.
“At this point in time the university (University of Illinois) has not received any money for this year. When I talk about this year, this year started last July,” continued Hoeft.
Approximately 150 people showed up to voice their opinion on the reorganization of the University of Illinois Extension Program at the meeting held in Effingham on Friday, February 26. The meeting was held in the basement of the Effingham Extension Service. Many folks from Shelby County attended.
Hoeft, being a teacher at heart, gave the crowd a brief lesson in economics. He talked about the three sources of money the extension service receives. Those three sources are all government entities, federal, state and local or county, with the state being the largest source and where the short-fall exists.
Hoeft said the extension does receive some funding from grants and fees for services but that money is such a small amount it really doesn’t effect the financial picture.
Hoeft said the extension has to make cuts but they are not even sure about how much they have to cut. He said when the extension first started talking about cuts they thought they were looking at $2-4 million.
“Now we are talking $4-7 million,” Hoeft said. “What I need to know today is where do you think we can get those monies from.”
Hoeft told the group that if they were here to defend their county, “You are welcome to do that, but that is not what we are here for today.”
The people who spoke, and there were many, did not know where to find that money either. The comments all centered around the importance of the extension in their county.
Shelby County farmer and president of the Fair Board, David Smith suggested a road trip to find some answers.
“Why haven’t we talked about carrying our concerns to Springfield,” questioned Smith? “We could send a letter or e-mail or go to Springfield and visit the governor.”
Phil Hartke, Smith’s counterpart, or president of the Effingham Fair Board talked about the possible consequences of extension cuts.
“We are not building youth, we’re building future citizens,” said Hartke.
Finally after two hours of people talking about the importance of the extension in their county, the meeting ended with probably more questions than answers.
Hoeft said no decision has been made as to what and where cuts will be made. He did say one viable option might be to combine county extension offices.
He said some extension units have already been combined and that may be one answer.
“That is one thing I am looking at, we can share county directors,” Hoeft said. “We are going to let the counties decide how they fit best together. Some counties get along together better than others.”
Hoeft went on to say that if the figure they have to cut is $5 million and the cuts are all done with cutting people that would mean the loss of 70 - 80 people out of the extension’s workforce.
Shelby County Extension Unit Manager Jim Looft said he felt the meeting went well.
“I think people are saying they want the presence of the Extension in their county, but there are budget issues,” said Looft. “There has to be some way to come to a middle ground in all this. I think there are a lot of counties that don’t pay rent, a lot of counties that have big 4-H programs and that will be taken into consideration.”
