East Central Reporter

Tax filings prove that Robert Becker, a commercial assessor, was hired as a contractor, not an employee, for the Coles County Supervisor of Assessments (SOA), the Edgar County Watchdogs (ECW) allege on their Illinois Leaks website.

Neither the county nor the SOA has the authority to hire the a contractor in such a capacity, the ECW states.

Becker, who performed the last Mattoon Township assessment, received an IRS Form 1099 with his pay from the county listed under "nonemployee compensation," according to an image of the form posted on the ECW website.

The ECW said in a previous report that the county SOA does not have statutory authority to contract work to a commercial assessor. County code presents three options for townships to designate assessors: election, appointment or a hiring on a contract basis by the township board of trustees. If a township does not designate an assessor, the county SOA office can conduct assessments and bill the township for its work. Statutes do not provide for the SOA to contract an assessor on behalf of a township, which is what the ECW argues happened in the case of the Mattoon Township assessments.

The state’s attorney and SOA told the ECW that Becker was an employee of the SOA, the group attests.