A DeKalb County Board member has raised $3,500 in one afternoon to promote a tax levy for the county nursing home.

County Home Committee Chairman James Forster raised the money for a steering committee formed to help the DeKalb County Nursing Home tax levy referendum pass in the April 2 election. The steering committee has obtained $1,500 in actual donations so far and received pledges for another $2,500, he said.

The steering committee is raising funds to pay for mailings urging people to vote for the levy. Forster said 15,000 brochures have been sent out to DeKalb County residents.

The committee also is organizing a speakers bureau for people who want to hear more about the referendum, said John Ross, administrator of the county home.

“The committee is set up to present the referendum to the community,” Ross said.

Ross said an open house will probably be on Mar. 24 “to give the community an opportunity to see the facility and ask questions.”

County board member Thomas Gary said he is “concerned and a little leery of the role of the committee, in terms of what it’s supposed to oversee.”

“I’m not sure a committee should become an advocate of the home,” Gary said.

The committee is not part of the Board, but there are members of the Board on the committee, Ross said.

Board members on the steering committee are James Forster, John O’Meara, Suzanne Day, Margaret Phillips, Veronica Casella and George Daugherty.

Community members on the steering committee include Joe Bussone, 356 S. Crescent Drive, Bernard Anderson, 711 North Sixth Street and Joe Wiegand, 325 Haish Blvd.

The Board voted 20 to 3 at its Jan. 16 meeting to have the issue of the tax levy appear on the ballot.

If the referendum passes, the tax levy will be raised 5 to 10 cents per $100 of real estate. The increased tax levy would also affect businesses.

A committee was also formed to access the long-range terms of keeping the home running, board member Ron Matekaitis said.