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...[Townships] taken over by other units of government saving us tax money.

Don’t count your chickens. The Township performs services for not only unincorporated areas, but also for the entire township population when those services (often state mandated) are not available elsewhere.

A fairly complete list of responsibilities is online at twp.milton.il.us.

If the Township vanished tomorrow and all its workers fired, the County and local municipalities would have to hire more employees to pick up the slack... acquire more office space... buy more vehicles... and, of course, add more administrators.

The Township runs a relatively lean ship. (Someone commented earlier about their spartan little building in Wheaton) From a regional governmental org chart point of view it may appear inefficient duplication, but it wouldn’t surprise me that — if everything they do were transferred to other governmental institutions — that the overall costs would go up.

Does the Township do things that actually need to be done? That’s another question entirely, and would remain no matter who took over the present work load. —Ted E.

[-If the Township vanished tomorrow and all its workers fired-]

The way that I envision it happening is that all township people - or nearly all - would become county employees. Over time, certain duplicated duties would atrophy and fall away.

In over 25 years, residing in an incorporated area, I have never once used a township service [assessing excluded as I have no choice here]. I really cannot see how these services couldn't be assumed by the county. At least here in DuPage.

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...certain duplicated duties would atrophy and fall away.

Oh, you dreamer, you. But seriously... what duplicated services? No geographic area is served by two primary “competing” fire, police or highway departments.

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I have never once used a township service...

Wait 'til you turn 65. And consider yourself very fortunate that you haven't needed the family services, social services, uninsured etc. support they offer.

anyway... since the Township is a smaller and closer unit of government than the County — and since I believe it is more efficient and cost-effective at what it does than the County — I'd rather see the Township take over some of the County services, rather than the other way around. But then I've always liked the idea of “neighborhood schools” for K-8 more than huge regional educational institutions. —Ted E.

So, we need both a township clerk AND a county clerk?

And what exactly is it about turning 65 that will make me more appreciative of a township?

I am a born cynic. All I see with townships is the Rookie League for politicians. A chance to run for some office that means little to most people, a budget to hand out patronage jobs and lifetime job security in a cozy little taxpayer-funded cabin, or a springboard to Double-A political ball, or perhaps even Triple-A or The Bigs.

Illinois leads all 50 states in the dubious category of Most Units of Government - over 7,000. Indiana is moving to eliminate townships for the exact reasons we are discussing - duplication and not enough "business" to justify any longer. Bravo for them. When will Illinois get with it?

DuPage has nine townships. Lord knows how many Cook has but if you added up all the townships in Illinois, it has GOT to be over 1,000.

I just see townships as an anachronism - a throwback to a rural past when they actually did have some valid reason to exist. Those reasons are becoming harder and harder to justify, in my opinion.

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So, we need both a township clerk AND a county clerk?

They each do different “clerk” work. No matter what their titles are or whom they report to, their responsibilities will require two people. They do different things.

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what exactly is it about turning 65 that will make me more appreciative of a township?

They manage/administer the senior citizen services that range from the senior discounts on property taxes through the state's Circuit Breaker medicare supplement as well as the proverbial, “much, much more.” Again, peruse the web site linked above.

As I mentioned earlier, much of the Township's senior and social services work is state mandated and must be applied for and renewed annually in person by recipients. Again, somebody has to handle the paperwork, no matter what the institution.

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...means little to most people...

How many people have actually used the services of the Fire Company? I have no children, but still have to pay school taxes. And so on. I lived for over 25 years in homes that had neither town water or sewers, but rather well water and septic systems. I've never had to call 911. (**knocks wood**)

It seems much of — if not most of — the business of government is to supply specific services to a selected minority of the population. But when you spread it all out, everybody sets something they want or need for their money.

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I am a born cynic...

Hey! That's my job!

My own experience with Township gov says BTN got it about right. They were under fire in the 80's as a local gov institution that was no longer needed in urbanized DuPage. If I remember correctly that's when the push began into social services as a way of justifying their existence. However I'm not denying that those services aren't needed. Just not sure we need a free standing gov agency to provide them. Seems like there could be an economy of scale by assigning those services to the County resulting in a tax decrease for once as that has got to be cheaper than supporting a separate agency.

For example- twp highway (actually another separate taxing agency from the twp proper) plows about 2000 feet of otherwise incorporated road in my neighborhood- we pay for a highway commissioner salary, employees, maintenance, and all the equipment to duplicate what the village could do far cheaper with just a portion of the tax payed to twp highway.

I'm not defending the Township system. I'm just saying that getting rid of it as a governmental entity and transferring the work that they do over to municipalities and/or the County won't save one thin dime... or make the services any better, more efficient... or more cost-effective.

It's deck chairs on the Titanic.

How about a poll?

Townships? Yes or No?

I do all of the paperwork for my old man [he's 87 and legally blind] and last year, the township didn't send out forms for the Senior Freeze. The county did.

Now, like so many things in a state that has over 7,000 governmental units, who handles the freeze might vary by township. Heck, Bloomingdale, Milton and Wayne townships all have DIFFERENT Web-based assessment databases. Wayne even forces you to "register" to look at items of public record. Milton and Bloomingdale do not.

Incidentally, I will always point to the Village of River Forest and River Forest Township - two units of government with the EXACT same boundaries and not one square inch on "unincorporated" area - as the Shining Standard of Township Uselessness.

Why do we need to pay a Township Highway Commissioner a juicy salary if we have a village public works director or County highway engineer who could easily accommodate the unincorporated areas? That alone is more than a thin dime. And there's 9 highway commissioners.

And 18 different "pensions" - Nine [one] each per township and then another nine for each township road department.

A true muck rake if there ever was one but one that certainly seemed to have a large hunk of truth within. Deb's abject silence since that Ken Starr-like missive came out is quite revealing, don't you think?

And when she went No-Show at the Wayne Township GOP "candidate debate", after telling them that she would be there? And, having her husband show up thinking she would be there?

I've seen enough "Forensic Files" and "First 48" episodes to spot guilty behavior. LOL!