Elected Officials Deliver Report To Tazewell County Board Concerning Discovered Savings In Postage Cost

Tazewell County Clerk & Recorder of Deeds John C. Ackerman and Tazewell County Treasurer Hannah Clark delivered a report today to the Tazewell County Board Finance Committee concerning a review of Tazewell County Government Bulk Mail. The report contains a new “Non-Profit Presorted Bulk Rate Mail” option that has been discovered can be utilized by the County Clerk’s Election Division as well as an identified yearly savings to Tazewell County Taxpayers of $114,326.

The report delivered by the two Elected County Officers states “The overwhelming majority of the savings is a result of a new option brought to our attention by KnowInk as a result of our new agreement with them to outsource the Vote-By-Mail preparation and mailing, which was unanimously supported by the County Board last month. Thanks to your trust in our recommendation to make this move, they helped us identify a previously unknown “Non-Profit Bulk Mail Rate” that is available to State Election Registration Authorities.”

“My office has immediately implemented these changes required to fully realize the savings we have identified in this report” stated Tazewell County Clerk & Recorder of Deeds John C. Ackerman. “We have also contacted and alerted our fellow Election Authorities throughout the State of Illinois to this new option to reduce taxpayer cost. From our conversations with our colleagues from throughout the state, only Cook County has previously utilized this cost-saving option, and only recently did they implement the changes. Thanks to the assistance of KnowInk, once again the citizens of Tazewell County can witness our office leading within the State of Illinois when it comes to reducing the cost to Taxpayers.”

“Our office is proud of our responsibility to deliver all Tazewell County Government mail, and we work consistently to make sure this vital work is done accurately, in a timely manner, and in the most cost-effective way available” stated Tazewell County Treasurer Hannah Clark. “This is an amazing large savings to Tazewell County Taxpayers that elected officials dream about being able to implement but rarely find the opportunity to actually accomplish!”

While this report was overall positive, the two County Elected Officers did request the County Board join them in encouraging Congressional Legislators to allow this lower cost postage rate for all County Government Mail. If this legislative change was made, the report found Tazewell County could save another $31,882 yearly.