Tim Ruestman, Woodford County coroner.

Among the certainties in life are death and that Tim Ruestman won’t be the Woodford County coroner forever.

Although the youngest coroner in the state when he took over the post in 1992, Ruestman turns 57 in September and is now finishing his eighth term in office. He has no retirement date in mind, but knows whoever follows in his footsteps will need more financial support.

“We have been extremely fiscally responsible,” Ruestman said, “but I have used my own resources for the office. It is unfair to expect the individual who follows me to do that in order to maintain the great professional atmosphere.”

Ruestman said coroners in counties with 8,000 to 10,000 fewer residents than Woodford have budgets twice as big as his.

To get the coroner’s office more in line with other counties’ spending plans, Ruestman has proposed increasing his chief deputy’s part-time salary from $8,000 to $12,000 and other budget increases.

Before hitting the campaign trail for another run at re-election, Ruestman also plans to ask the County Board to increase the coroner’s salary. He said he doesn’t have a number in mind right now, but wants the salary to increase just so it as at an appropriate level when he decides to walk away from the county post.

Ruestman currently makes $32,177 as coroner.

He noted that in the last census, Woodford was recorded as having 38,128 residents and that his overall budget is a tad over $80,000. He said the coroner in the county just above Woodford in population has a budget of $168,337. The coroner in the county just below Woodford in population has a budget of $160,180, he said.

“I want to be fair to the next person,” Ruestman said.

The coroner noted that all of the paper currently used for the county office comes from his funeral home.

Ruestman said there will be no tax increase or referendum on the ballot due to the increased budget for the office.

“We could double our budget and there wouldn’t be the need for a tax increase,” he said. “I want to keep the staff satisfied. They have done an excellent job, being professional on a tight budget.

He said he would like to provide staff with seminars and offer more services with an increased budget.

“Over the years, we have run extremely lean, but the services and quality never sacrificed,” Ruestman said. “… We never thought we would see a pandemic the way we did. Woodford had one of the first cases of COVID. We declared an emergency and were able to get PPE (personal protective equipment) to the nursing homes to prevent the spread of the disease. We did a pretty good job.”

The coroner said he has not gotten any push back from County Board members about increasing his budget.

“I have an excellent rapport with them. There have been no issues,” Ruestman said. “I explained things to them and they said they would help in any way that they can.”

Ruestman said that an expanded budget has allowed him to purchase a refrigeration system, which keeps him from always having to take bodies to McLean County.

He said bodies will still be taken to McLean when an autopsy has to be done. Through an

intergovernmental agreement, McLean’s coroner does the autopsies and Woodford pays for the service.

Ruestman said the intergovernmental agreement remains a cost-effect way to handle autopsies.

“A new morgue would cost us several million dollars,” Ruestman said. “We just don’t have the volume to do that.”autopsies.

“A new morgue would cost us several million dollars,” Ruestman said. “We just don’t have the volume to do that.”

Ruestman said the intergovernmental agreement remains a cost-effect way to handle autopsies.

“A new morgue would cost us several million dollars,” Ruestman said. “We just don’t have the volume to do that.”