This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Are Townships Extraneous?

A November ballot question will ask local voters to weigh in on the elimination of 'unnecessary' levels of government—but would the move save money and serve residents better?

Illinois has nearly 7,000 units of local government—more than any other state in the nation, U.S. Census figures show.

Residents in areas of DuPage County pay taxes to park districts, school districts, an airport district, mosquito abatement districts and even a streetlight district.

In November, Downers Grove voters get to say whether they want to consolidate some of those governments. The ballot question calls out townships and special districts in particular:

Find out what's happening in Downers Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Shall the Illinois General Assembly and the Governor take immediate steps to review the services being provided by townships and special districts and consider consolidation of these services with other units of local government in an effort to reduce or eliminate unnecessary levels of local government?

It's a non-binding referendum, so no one has to act on the results. But Downers Grove Mayor Ron Sandack, who spearheaded the ballot question, thinks it's a fundamental consideration for local government.

Find out what's happening in Downers Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We don't need all these layers," he said. "We can get rid of other forms of government that are antiquated and inefficient."

Sandack said townships provide services that the village, county and non-profit organizations could take over. For example, the township assessor assesses property values, while the county collects taxes based on those assessments. Maybe the township assessor should be absorbed by the county, Sandack said.

"All these levels have their own administrative costs, their own employees and their own expenses," he said.

Downers Grove Township Supervisor Frank Wurster said township and municipal government doesn't overlap. In fact, Downers Grove Township now covers some of the human services the village of Downers Grove eliminated in recent budget cuts, including support for Meals on Wheels.

The township provides temporary emergency financial aid for low-income people, administers assistance with heating bills and helps the uninsured find free and discounted health care. Its services for youth include teaching middle schoolers about bullying and drug abuse, and its senior citizen services include the Dial-a-Ride program.

Downers Grove Township also administers two cemeteries and provides mosquito abatement.

One of the township's main duties is highway maintenance. The Downers Grove Township Highway Department maintains 73 miles of streets in unincorporated areas not controlled by the state or county.

"If we were to give those up, somebody would have to absorb that," Wurster said. "If the county were to do that, I don't know if they would have room to do all we do, store all the records we store. Who would take care of the highways? You couldn't come into the office here in Downers Grove. You'd have to drive out to Wheaton for questions about property taxes and so forth."

He added that township taxes take up only 1.5 percent to 1.7 percent of residents' total tax bills.

"We're the neighborhood government," he said. "We don't cost the taxpayers a lot. We do a lot for what they pay for."

A neighboring state recently tried and failed at eliminating townships.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels had appointed a statewide commission to study government efficiency. In December 2008, he used the commission's findings to propose, among other recommendations, that townships be consolidated into city and county government. He said the administrative costs saved by following the commission's 27 recommendations would total some $630 million.

The Indiana Township Association disagreed, saying consolidation would create a bigger government that could cost taxpayers an additional $1 billion annually. Two months after the governor's challenge, the local government reform bills were gutted or rejected in Indiana Senate committees.

Township officials aren't the only ones who like the way things are.

Linda Painter is a commissions of the Forest District of DuPage County and president of the Timberlake Civic Association, which represents owners of more than 760 homes in unincorporated Downers Grove Township.

"The best thing is we have lower taxes," she said.

Property taxes tend to be lower in unincorporated areas because residents don't pay for city services such as police and fire protection. The county sheriff's department and a regional fire protection district provide those services—and Painter is happy with them.

She believes Timberlake residents have good communication with their township and county officials because their homeowners association is so large. If local governments were consolidated and townships were eliminated, those lines of communication would connect to different government officials.

Things might change more dramatically if her unincorporated neighborhood were annexed by the nearest municipality.

"I have mixed feelings about that," she said. "The advantage would be if you needed support on issues of a municipality, you would have that. But then you'd be paying for that with higher taxes."

Downers Grove is considering annexing some nearby unincorporated areas, but Sandack said that effort is not driving the ballot initiative. Government efficiency is.

"If it cannot be improved, then we learned something in this investigation and review," he said. "But my guess is we'll find a whole lot of places for improvement."

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?