Underfunded service group appeals for rent-free office

DIXON -- A nonprofit agency that helps low-income residents around Dixon find jobs might be getting a year's free rent, worth $7,200. Business Employment Skills Team Inc. serves four counties from four offices, one of which is in the Old Lee County Courthouse. The federally funded program has been getting less funding over the last six years, so the Lee County Properties Committee will recommend Tuesday that the county board give the group a 12-month rent waiver. B.E.S.T. pays $600 a month for the Dixon office, which serves 200 to 250 people a year, Executive Director Pam Furlan said. The group also is working with other landlords to renegotiate their leases, Furlan said. In the meantime, it is cutting its staff from 16 to 14. "Laying off s