Finance and TIF Committee approves MedBest recruitment fee, directs payment from emergency fund

The LaSalle County Finance and TIF Committee voted on May 14 to authorize payment to recruitment firm MedBest for a hiring search for the county nursing home, with finance to cover the recruitment fee from the county's emergency fund, Chair Tina Bush said.

The action followed a brief discussion about which budget lines would be used to pay MedBest’s fee. Committee members noted the recruitment (agency) fee would be paid from the professional services line, but that outstanding obligations mean finance would use emergency funds to cover any shortfall. The committee cited account 01 44 599.001 as the funding reference when making the motion.

Committee members also discussed compensation and advertising arrangements. Members discussed an idea floated during the meeting — described in the record as “140 for the first year” with a two-year appointment and a possible pay bump in year two — as a retention incentive for the hire; the proposal was discussed as an item for salary-and-labor review rather than a formal commitment. The record also referenced an approximate $42,000 potential additional cost tied to that bump, but members emphasized the final amount is not yet determined.

Craig, a committee member, said the nursing home maintains an advertising expense line and proposed the department cover its advertising costs (members referenced line items of about 1,380 and 200). Finance said it would process the recruitment fee while the nursing home department would handle the advertising and the other smaller amounts.

Gary moved and Tom seconded the motion to proceed with MedBest and to have finance pay the recruitment fee from emergency funds. The chair called the vote; members voted in favor and the motion carried. The committee then approved a motion to adjourn.

Next steps noted in the meeting record: finance will process payment to MedBest from emergency funds and the nursing home will draw advertising costs from its department budget. Specific salary decisions and the final recruitment fee amount were left to later administrative steps and were not finalized at the meeting.