Veterans Assistance Commission of St. Clair County

The Veterans Assistance Commission of St. Clair County is the county's commission under the Military Veterans Assistance Act; see the Illinois entry on Veterans Assistance Commissions. It is its own unit of local government, run by delegates of the county's veterans posts and funded by a county levy; its fiscal 2026 budget is $1,120,157, with $240,000 for aid to veterans. Office: 19 Public Square, Suite 300, Belleville (618-277-0040; [email protected]), with a satellite office at 317 Marketplace Drive, Freeburg, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Appointments can be booked online. Claims. Its service officers are accredited through the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers and file compensation, pension, survivors, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, burial and appeal claims free. In fiscal 2025 it filed 973 claim packages, and the new awards came to about $4.1 million. Property tax. The Commission completes the PTAX-341 and PTAX-342 forms with the veteran and files them with the Assessor; see the St. Clair County Assessor entry. Financial assistance (Service Line Policies, revised January 2026). Temporary help, never cash, paid to the landlord, lender or utility, or as a store voucher, for current rent or mortgage (up to the county's average HUD fair market rent: $863 for a studio to $1,659 for four bedrooms in 2026), the latest month's electric, gas, water, sewer or trash bill, and food and hygiene vouchers at the SNAP maximum rounded to $50 ($300 for one person, $1,000 for four). Household income must be at or under 138% of the federal poverty line for the month of application and the month before ($1,835 a month for one person in 2026). Help is capped at six occurrences and $10,000 per household in any 12 months, and the applicant must have lived in St. Clair County for 90 days. Deposits, first or last month's rent and reconnection fees are not paid, and nothing is paid to a relative. Applicants able to work must show twenty job applications; a veteran with a TDIU rating or a Social Security disability award is excused. A denial can be appealed in writing to the Executive Board within 60 days. Where it narrows the Act. - Service. The policy requires an honorable or general discharge "with no indication of misconduct", at least one day of active duty other than training, Title 10 orders for a Guard member, and says a DD-214 showing "less than 24 months of peacetime service" is not eligible. Section 2 of the Act asks only for a last discharge that was honorable or general under honorable conditions; the misconduct bar and the 24-month rule are the Commission's own. - The 2026 income table repeats the two-person figure ($2,489 a month) for a household of three. 138% of the 2026 guideline for three people is about $3,142 a month ($37,702 a year). Burial. The Commission takes applications for the county's burial of a wartime veteran, or a veteran's parent, spouse, widow, widower or minor child, who dies without the means to pay. Counties Code sections 5-27001 and 5-27002 cap the county's payment at $900; the Commission pays it only to the funeral home or crematorium on an unpaid bill and does not refund a bill already paid. The statute covers only an honorably discharged veteran of the listed wars and periods, and excludes a family member who was on public assistance at death. The policy quotes the old "Korean Conflict" wording where the statute now says the national emergency of June 25, 1950 to January 31, 1955. Military Affairs. The County also has a Director of Military Affairs (10 Public Square, Room A-300; 618-825-2360; [email protected]), a liaison between Scott Air Force Base and county government who helps service members and veterans reach county services.