PEKIN, Ill. — Grant money continued rolling in Tuesday for the Tazewell County Clerk’s Office.
The office announced an additional Federal CyberNavigator grant of almost $1,400 to cover staffing costs of its informational technology experts who have been implementing CyberNavigator upgrades.
Clerk John Ackerman called it taxpayer money, saved.
“Normally, the I.T. staff time would come from property taxpayers, the general revenue fund for the county,” he said.
“This is offsetting funding we would have to do with property tax revenue, so if I can, instead of using property tax dollars, utilize this federal grant funding, I’m going to do it every opportunity I get.”
Ackerman said the I-T staff has been busy over the past year installing over $72,000 in computers and programs funded through CyberNavigator.
“The voter database — all the information we store for the voters — that’s where we’ve been using the CyberNavigator funding, guaranteeing all that information we store is secure.”
The CyberNavigator program came about after the 2016 election, when Russians were said to have infiltrated American voting databases, including in Illinois, specifically in Kankakee County.
