Township Government in Dupage County

Question:
Should we keep townships and their services as a stand alone govt taxing agency?

Choices:
Yes
No

 

There ya go BTN
See Dupage County Board chairman thread for the debate

OK, we have Ted, BTN, and me voting so far. LOL. 2:1

Such an elimination of townships would have to be a statewide law. I think I read that in Indiana, their Township Elimination Law leaves it up to each county.

Illinois passes many laws like that too - leaving it up to the county to adopt or not.

Actually, the 1991 PTELL law ["Property Tax Extension Limitation Law"] or "tax cap" is such a law. Not all counties in Illinois have it in place.

Of course, every county up 'round these here parts [Cook and the Collars] sure as heck has it in place.

Bio, the polls close at 7:00. LOL!

Oh, and in a much more recent example of a law that needs a county-by-county vote? Pat Quinn's Video Poker to Fund Roads and Bridges Law.

DuPage, of course, was the first county in the state to vote NO!

Voices from Indiana on the subject of township elimination.

From the Indiana Chamber of Commerce

From the Indiana Township Association

Highlight from this site:

quote:

HB1181, as it passed the House, provides that townships will stand for a referendum vote this November [2010] as to whether or not to retain township government in each township. If the vote fails, the duties of the township will transfer to the county.

From local Indiana press coverage

Looks like Indiana has a township nepotism problem too:

quote:

The Senate's proposal is to eliminate township advisory boards after 2013. The township trustee would still remain in place, but a nepotism clause would be included, with a list of trustee relatives who could not serve as paid employees.

Those relatives who were already employed before 2010 would be grandfathered in and could keep their jobs.

At least Indiana has begun the process. I applaud them for this. After all, consider this bit from the Chamber link above:

quote:

"The boundaries for Indiana's 1,008 townships were laid in the year 1790. It made sense then to have small units of government so that officials were geographically close to the people, who relied on horse-drawn buggies for transportation. It doesn't make sense now in our time of interstates and the Internet."

LOL! 1790? I thought townships dated back to when Abe Lincoln rode the circuit but heck, they were already OLD then!

I think we're on to something

I dunno... looking at the way the real world works...

There are nineteen municipalities or organized unincorporated towns in Milton Township. If the Township went away, you know that each city, town and village would have to hire at least one person to do the work that the Township used to do for them. The larger municipalities would have to hire two or more, and thus also hire a supervisor. All individuals would require salary, benefits and offise space.

The managers, mayors and other administrators already in place would get raises, for they would now be responsible for more people and larger budgets.

I'm sure this wouldn't happen unless DuPage County eliminated all of its nine Townships. I have no idea of the total number of workers that all nine Townships employ, but I'm sure the DuPage County government in Wheaton would need to hire 110% of that number to handle the additional workload that would fall to them. Plus more administrators and, again, raises for the heads of the existing departments they would report too. And again, all would receive salaries, benefits and pensions.

And don't forget vehicles. (In the words of Oprah, “And you get a car, and you get a car, and you get a car...”)

In its wisdom, after a few years the County government will spin off a few service groups as separate, stand-alone entities and add layers of new buildings, boards and/or supervisors — as they did with the Forest Preserve.

I don't have a good feeling about this. I have learned to be careful what I wish for. I really don't think “bigger is better” in government, private industry, snowstorms, spiders or brain tumors.

I meet your cynicism and raise you one.

I would love to see an Illinois study that looked at these types of number, statewide.

This quote is from the Indiana Chamber link posted earlier.

quote:

It's inefficient. "Just 2% of the townships -- 20 of them -- awarded 80% of the poor relief given in 2007. More than half of the townships assisted fewer than 20 households. That's a lot of overhead for very little activity. And yet we fund an entire layer of government -- 1,008 separate entities with 4,045 elected officials to serve a tiny percentage of the population."

That's all from Indiana, mind you.

And, speaking of "layers of government", just what do townships govern? We know they assess real estate [make work]. We know they have Youth and Senior services [most towns, villages and even the county provide these]. We know they have something known as poor relief.

But do they actually govern anything? I couldn't tell you what that is.

quote:

I have no idea of the total number of workers that all nine Townships employ.

Nor do I. Some transparency within the townships would be nice.

Again I say... I'm not defending Townships. I'm just saying that I don't believe that turning their responsibilities over to other governmental entities and closing them down will save a single tax dollar. (in the real world).

Government administrators are paid based on the number of people who report to them, and the size of their budgets. They have absolutely no motivation to reduce either.

If you want to save taxpayer dollars by stopping Townships (or any other government entity) from offering specific services... then go for it. But that's a whole 'nother argument... and it ain't easy to do.

One more thought on the subject... People really don't care. Most taxpayers simply grumble and pay ”whatever the market will bear.“

Several years ago Rich Dunn ran for the Milton Township and Dupage County boards (in separate years). In both cases he ran on a platform of reducing taxes with a very specific, detailed plan as to how to do it. He didn't just say, “Vote for me, because I'm for lower taxes” like everybody else. No other candidate offered how-to details anywhere near as well researched, as reasonable or as specific as Rich's.

In both cases, he wanted to work to reduce the number of board members, and to reduce their compensation... proposing specific numbers. He got nickel-and-dime precise on expenses, figuring (for example) how much could be saved on even small things like mowing the grass at the Wheaton campus of the County Government Center and at other County properties. A startling amount could be saved each year if the grass was replaced with low-maintenance ground cover or natural prairie grasses (similar to what they've done at CoD).

Nobody cared. He lost. Obviously a majority of the electorate liked things just the way they were, thank you very much (which is one reason why I don't think we'll ever get rid of Townships).

Detailed bean counting doesn't get voters excited. Two or three snappy words on a bumper sticker... now that's a candidate worth voting for!

DuPage County in general, and Glen Ellyn in particular, are conservative. In general, that means residents are for , “lower taxes!” and “no change!” In my experience, when those two positions conflict with each other on a single issue, the “keep things the way they are!“ side wins.

That's neither good nor bad. It's simply The Way It Is. The people have spoken.

quote:

Nobody cared

True. Without Google, I challenge any non-Ted to name their Township Supervisor. Or even one single ELECTED township official. I don't think the assessor is elected but I could be wrong.

Further, from the Indiana Chamber link:

quote:

"In 2006, the majority of township candidates ran unopposed -- 64% in township board races and 76% in trustee contests.

It might be even higher in Illinois. If that isn't "going through the motions" to preserve Old Spanish Custom, I don't know what is!

I found this township service - from Bloomingdale Township - quite interesting:

quote:

Unincorporated Vehicle Stickers

Vehicle stickers are not required for vehicles titled within the unincorporated areas of Bloomingdale Township. However for those residents who wish to have one they are available through Bloomingdale Township at no charge.

To qualify you must show proof of residency along with evidence of where each vehicle for which a sticker is being requested is licensed.

To qualify? For something that isn't even required? Huh?

Sorry, but if that isn't "make work", I don't know what is.

Oh, and also from B'Dale, I learned that townships are even OLDER than 1709. Heck, I think the Pilgrims must've established townships!

quote:

Township government is one of the earliest forms of government in North America, established in March 1629. There are some that consider the charter of 1629 the most important document in the history of this country.

Note that it was March of 1629. Not April. LOL!

Point to Ted about people not caring. I know Richard and what he stood for in his campaign and it's a shame people could not recognize an individual who would have made an excellent elected public servant.

But I agree with BTN that twp gov is outdated and I still think that we could save $ by transferring the services thereby eliminating the TWP overhead.

We need a study done like the Indiana Chamber did. Something that measures costs vs. benefits, percentage of unopposed township candidates running and of course, degree of nepotism going on.

I'd venture a guess that in some areas of Illinois, the township is a viable entity and cost efficient.

It isn't in these parts. I again will point to the Gold Standard of Township Uselessness - River Forest Township having the EXACT same boundaries as the Village of River Forest and containing not one square inch of unincorporated land.

Semi-stumbled across this bit of nuttiness - Pope County, Illinois.

It is in the far southern tip of Illinois, down near the Shawnee Forest [nice area]. And is the smallest county in Illinois by population. A mere 4,413 people live in Pope County, per the 2000 census.

They don't have townships. No, instead they have "precincts". Thirteen of them.

Where else but IL would there be such dopey gov?

Is there even one tiny town in DuPage County that has a population of 4,413? Looks to me like you could combine Pope County with about four of its neighboring counties and you'd have a population the size of......Glen Ellyn!

They do have the PTELL law enacted though.

Those "precincts" look pretty uniform in size.

Silly math but dividing 4,413 / 13 [precincts], I get about 340 souls per precinct. Gawd, I hope there isn't a "precinct government"!

Or if there is, Aunt Bea runs it on a volunteer basis.