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The Herald & Review has just finished a series on the number of local units of government. Today is the traditional series-ending editorial.
Illinois has nearly 8,500 units of local government. That’s easily the most in the nation; Pennsylvania is second with about 2,000 fewer units of government. […]The problems with this system are obvious. First, it grossly inefficient. Second, it’s costly. Third, it doesn’t serve the public well at all.
There are those who say the numerous units of government are a good thing - that it brings democracy and government service closer to the people.
Really? Quickly, name your township supervisor? Who do you call if you have a mosquito problem? Know anyone at the local mosquito abatement district? Got a drainage issue? Know anyone at one of the county’s 63 drainage districts?
OK. Now name the mayor of Chicago. The truth is Richard Daley is more accountable to the people he serves than most other local government officials.
The system of government is so complex that in some cases, taxpayers are paying twice for the same service. Some residents in Long Creek, for example, pay for fire protection from the city of Decatur and the Long Creek Fire Protection District. The only way to get out of paying twice for the same service is to go to court - a process that can cost hundreds of dollars in legal fees.
How democratic is that? How sensible is that? Is that serving the public?
The fact is, multiple units of government make it more difficult for citizens to get their problems solved.
Being a relative newcomer to my neighborhood, I don’t know the name of my township supervisor either, but if I had a problem I’m sure I could find out in a hurry. And I’ll bet I’d have a much easier time getting through to him or her than to Mayor Daley, but I can see the paper’s point.
What do you think of this issue?
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 6:01 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
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This is easily the most wasteful aspect of the State of Illinois, more wasteful than the schools, the State or even Chicago. If the State could consolidate even a quarter of these districts and units of local government, we could have meaningful tax relief
Comment by Agree Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 7:08 am
It’s not secret that Illinois politicians jealously keep an iron grip upon many antiquated, duplicitous, and downright unnecessary “governmental” bodies. It’s all about jobs and control. Many of these boards’ spots are viewed as “plums” because they offer their members health insurance. Try prying that out of the greedy hands of a committeeman (I hope you have access to the jaws of life).
Comment by Snidely Whiplash Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 7:11 am
Go to the IL Assn of County Officials Conference in Chicago just before Thanksgiving. They will have hundreds of ‘officials’ registered for the conference but never more that 25 people at any session. The rest will be on Michigan Avenue on a local-government-taxpayer funded holiday shopping trip.
They live to serve.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 7:27 am
State Sen. Chris Lauzen (R-Aurora) a while back proposed legislation to eliminate township government. That was DOA. These township jobs (what the hell does the Town Collector do anyhow?) are nice sinecures for politicos of both stripes. Most township functions (roads, general assistance welfare) could easily be handled by municipal or county government.
Comment by Ravenswood Right Winger Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 7:34 am
Township government is an anachronism.
Comment by one of the 35 Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 7:59 am
I used to know my township supervisor but that was only because he was a close friend. He has since resigned the job.
I had have lived in my township for over 50 years but had no idea who my township’s GOP Party chairman was. He had never called upon me. I decided that rather than complain about this lack of effort on his part, that perhaps the fault was mine for not doing something about it. I then went to our county GOP chairman and offered to serve as one of our GOP township precinct committeemen which is what I am now. I would suggest that others consider doing what I have chosen to do if they have the time and inclination to do so. It has been a very illuminating and interesting political experience. One in which I have met many interesting and nice people.I wish I had done it many years ago.
Comment by Beowulf Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 8:24 am
Township government is no longer needed to perform the tasks for which it was created years ago and that was to give rural areas sheriffs and roads and other protections and benefits cities had.
But, although townships should/could be fazed out in Illinois, it just won’t happen. They are the cradle of local politics, the place the local majority party works to stay in power. Any state rep who really pushed for the eliminatio of townships would find it very hard to be re-elected.
Comment by diane Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 8:41 am
The large number of govt districts grew up as a result of the 1870 constitution. Illinois has never looked back.The number grew because of tough limits on debt for those who wanted new programs and services (parks, libraries) and those who created shell districts to avoid being sucked in. The future would be to consolidate, but that would require cooperation, some loophole around tax caps and a willingness to share.
Comment by Reddbyrd Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 8:48 am
Chicago at least has its act together on this one. Got a problem? Call the alderman. It works.
Comment by Skeeter Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 9:02 am
I did a study of this exact issue for my Master’s in Public Administration in ‘97. The paper is exactly right. Illinois is a morass of inefficient, duplicative overgovernment. Want to know why the problem will never go away… c’mon, you already know… one word… PATRONAGE.
Comment by HoosierDaddy Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 9:07 am
Patronage may be one reason it doesn’t go away, but the other reason is that citizens apparently don’t have the time to inform themselves and actively work to get rid of these units. Even getting rid of one small unit would be a tremendous amount of work…reading up on the issues, finding out which of the unit’s work needs to be done somewhere else and where that somewhere else might be, getting voter support,
dealing with the legal issues, and so on.
Reducing the number of govt units is a worthy cause but who is going to take it on?
Comment by Cassandra Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 9:19 am
I’d agree that we have too many governments. But I’d go a step further. How relavant are precinct commiteemen anymore to party politics. Yesterday’s Lane Evans vote highlights the huge number of vacancies. Even with all of the controversy in this election, many of these mopes didn’t bother to send in their ballots. In an era of mass media buys, precinct committemen are heading to extinction.
Comment by Anon Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 9:23 am
Yes, there are too many governments in Illinois.
Where do you want your government power? As it is now, it is chaotic, fragmented, inefficient and locally controlled. Would you rather have these government entities controlled at a state level? How much more power would we be giving a governor if we do this?
What we have learned over the past 100 years, (well, some of us), is that the industrial age fixes no longer work. One of the biggest beliefs had been centralization. The idea that having something to control everything would result in added efficiencies and better decision making. Some of us still belief that centralizing governments is a good thing. Well, we now know that this creates new problems that are even tougher to solve since we added a bigness factor into them. Bigger governments are even less controllable than smaller ones. A big government that is out of control requires a big solution.
In today’s world, chaos isn’t a bad thing if it results in small disasters and small successes. We can fix these problems, even if there are more of them. Small governments allow inefficiencies, but also greater flexibilities. Importantly, they allow YOU to have power, not some wing-nut appointed by a corrupted official.
Citizenship requires work. We can’t be lazy. There is no dream world where a benevolent bureaucrat an expert in their field, pining away for a modest wage, will create a problem free efficient world without problems. Even chasing that dream has been damaging in that it has prevented us from properly assessing reality.
We have survived the appeal of Communism and Socialism, where their very intent is to centralize government power for our benefit. It is not a coincidence that these Industrial Age nightmares died with the Industrial Age.
We live in a whole new world. We need to start thinking like it.
Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 9:37 am
Township gov. is the biggest waste ever. For a real good laugh, go onto a township’s website and read how they try to justify their existence.
Ravenswood Right Winger: You are right, the collector does absolutely nothing — biggest waste. Read what Oak Park Township says about its collector:
http://www.oakparktownship.org/generalgov/collector.htm
Essentially, it reads that the role of the collector is to simply attend meeting. What a waste.
Comment by Just Observing Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 9:38 am
The way to eliminate some districts is to start with the most absurd, such as mosquito abatement and drainage districts, and eliminate one type at a time, rather than trying to attack them all at once.
Wouldn’t passing a law that their taxing authority or state funding gets moved to the city and/or county attract powerful support?
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 9:53 am
What needs to be done is to keep hammering this issue into the minds of the voters during the next two years, so that when the mandatory vote on holding a state Constitutional Convention comes up in November 2008 the voters are willingto vote “YES” and start the ball rolling for ridding the states of many of these excessive governement agencies.
Comment by Randall Sherman Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 10:00 am
ANON You touch on the key issue as soon as you start talking about a tax transfer the hand wringers (generally right wing GOP) start yelling tax hike and everybody scrambles. Plus you have the jurisdictional issues — who covers the unincorporated areas.
Sounds simple, should be simple. But.
Just looks at what happens when they try to consolidate one building school districts. everybody get excited.
Comment by Reddbyrd Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 10:05 am
This is excellent. I’ve been saying this is the biggest waste. I would eliminate the townships and get rid of other b.s. forms of government.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 10:16 am
Remember, reducing the size of government puts people out of work. These people have families. With babies. And babies need blankets. So if you propose reducing the size of government, you are proposing to steal blankets from babies.
So to all of you people proposing getting rid of government, I say to you “Why do you hate babies so much?”
Comment by Leroy Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 10:32 am
A much better and more effective cutback amendment would be to have this referendum on the ballot:
“Shall the Illinois Constitution be amended as follows: “Notwithstanding any other constitutional provision, no funds shall be raised or appropriated to fund any more than 1,000 units of government. The General Assembly shall pass legislation, subject to approval by the Governor, to reduce the number of governments from 8,500 to 1,000 or less. Such legislation shall be passed no later than 180 days after ratification of this amendment. No funds shall be spent for the General Assembly or the Governor after 180 days until such legislation is enacted.”
Comment by Where's Pat Quinn? Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 10:41 am
Many years ago there was a concerted effort to consolidate the township forms of government. That ran into a huge battle in the General Assembly - too many local elected officials who lobbied to keep their positions. It is time to consolidate the 8,400 different units of local government. Keeping things with general purpose units like municipalities and counties would be a step in the right direction.
Comment by Fully Support Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 10:48 am
Sounds like the logic of the “20somethings”.
But a point about the absurd life of politics…
We want our precinct committeemen, aldermen, and council members to care about us, to hear us, to help. If that committeeman, alderman, or council member has “clout”, they will get things done. If not, it takes time.
But now “CLOUT” is a bad thing. How will the common person ever get anything done?
And I have to say that Mayor Daley is the best Mayor ever! Love him, love him, love him!
Comment by So IL Gal Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 11:07 am
Sounds like the logic of the “20somethings”.
But a point about the absurd life of politics…
We want our precinct committeemen, aldermen, and council members to care about us, to hear us, to help. If that committeeman, alderman, or council member has “clout”, they will get things done. If not, it takes time.
But now “CLOUT” is a bad thing. How will the common person ever get anything done?
And I have to say that Mayor Daley is the best Mayor ever! Love him, love him, love him!
Comment by So IL Gal Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 11:07 am
Here are the primary duties of townships:
Road maintenance–could be taken over by municipalities and counties. They have the equipment.
Assessment of property-could be taken over by counties–they assess property anyway.
Social Services–again, counties and the State have similar programs in place.\
Township zoning could be undertaken by the counties.
I would argue that park districts, fire districts and library districts serve necessary purposes because they provide services to folks living in unincorporated areas that municipalities fail to serve. In my mind, they are different than townships in that regard.
Comment by Jake from Elwood Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 11:51 am
Leroy,
Nice of you to take some time off from the Blagojevich campaign to weigh in on local gov’t consolidation.
Comment by anon Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 12:05 pm
Jake raises an interesting point. However, why should I have to determine which of several different government entities I need to call? Why should I have to determine whether a road is county road or a state road or something else? Is the issue a city issue or a park district issue? Why should I have to make several calls to solve a simple problem?
That is the beauty of the Chicago system. If the problem is in the 42nd, I call Alderman Natarus. I let that office sort it out.
It is easy to rip Chicago, but when it comes to providing basic services in an effective manner we have it far better than most of the rest of Illinois.
Comment by Skeeter Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 12:07 pm
Randall Sherman right! Con Con 2010!
Comment by Silas Dewgood Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 1:11 pm
Skeeter
Chicago: “basic services in an effective manner”?
How about: mass transportation (under the control of the Chicago Transit Authority, separate from city government, and continually in reliance on federal and state funding)
education (under the authority of the Chicago Board of Education, technically separate from the city administration, but, under Daley, brought more gradually under mayoral direction (perhaps lost if Daley exits) and reliant on state and federal funding.) Education in Chicago is continually, and rightly criticized, as deficient and decrepit. Does your family have a kid in the system that isn’t in a magnet or charter school?
Sanitation: The first one on this list under direct city administration. No recycling, sporadic refuse pick up, chronic rat problems.
Roads: Chronic street problems: pot holes.
Skeeter, enjoy your blindered-day at Millenium Park, smelling the roses….
Comment by Conservative Republican Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 1:13 pm
Whenever you have an efficient government you have a dictatorship.
–Harry S Truman
Comment by prahabukowski Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 1:34 pm
These are nice ways for aspiring politicians to ge ttheir names in the public’s memory and pocket a few dollars….eiminate what can be eliminated!
Comment by Wumpus Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 1:40 pm
Last year the General Assembly passed House Bill 62 establishing a local government consolidation commission. The commission was created “to study the organization and function of local governments within the State and to make recommendations to reduce the number of local governments and to increase their efficiency and economy”. The Governor signed the bill on 7/19/05. A report is to be issued by December 31, 2006.
Is anyone aware of any activity with this commision?
Comment by Bluefish Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 3:04 pm
Most legislators aren’t very interested in taking this issue on, and one of the big reasons is that they understand that people who you do something to have longer memories that people you do something for.
Comment by steve schnorf Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 3:28 pm
Getting the number to less than 1,000 units of local gov’t would be pretty hard, considering there are more than 900 school districts
Comment by Dan Vock Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 3:54 pm
Steve– Goog point. Exactly why this would have to be dealt with at a con-con.
Leroy– Sounds like a Huey Long quote. Anyway, I got a chuckle.
BTW “I don’t hate babies. I’m all for them. In fact, I have one.”
Comment by HoosierDaddy Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 3:57 pm
Skeeter, you’ve made this comment many times before, on this and other threads. But you have to remember that your “results may not be typical,†as the disclaimers always say.
I lived in Chicago for 24 years. During that time, I lived in 3 different Wards. In none of them was I ever able to get something done just by calling the alderman’s office. I’d get the run around – “call Streets & Sans,†“the Clerk’s office handles that,†“let me take down your name (so that I can verify your voting records and campaign donations, of course) and we’ll get back to you.â€
See, not everyone’s Ward doubles as the city’s main business and tourism district. Natarus may be a stand-up guy, but let’s not kid ourselves here: His office gets things done because it is in the best interest of the Mayor and the city’s economy that things get done there. The same cannot be said of, say, Englewood, can it?
“Conservative Republican†is dead on. The CTA is constantly broke despite fare hikes and record rider-ship. CPS schools are failing despite a series of maximum property tax increases and the “accountable†leadership of da Mayor. Those are not the results of a government that “has it together,†if you ask me.
Comment by grand old partisan Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 4:19 pm
Conservative Republican:
You might want to visit Chicago before commenting. You look like a fool.
Comment by Skeeter Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 4:23 pm
GOP,
I don’t have a clue why your calls never got anything done. Maybe you should have tried to be polite. That works for me. Treat the staff well and they treat me well. It is interesting how that works. I hear they blow off people who yell and scream at them. You may know that better than I do.
My calls are returned and the job gets done. They did when I lived in the 42nd, and when I lived in the 43rrd. It has never been a problem.
The RTA? It gets me where I need to go. If we could stop sending money to fund suburbanites coming in we could do better.
Rats? Are you too serious? Welcome to life in a city. Chicago has done an outstanding job in getting rid of them. I hear Naperville has rats. I’ve been to Rockford too. Name one area that doesn’t have rats.
Potholes? Seriously, you need to have a better argument than that. I’ve driven through Du Page. I’ve driven through Will County. I’ve driven through Winnebago County. I will take Chicago roads any day. If you live in Du Page and think you have good roads then you should seek medical attention. You clearly have some sort of brain injury.
Schools? Not great, but improving. The new high schools are actually starting to take students from the elite high schools. When you have chronic poverty like Chicago has, it is going to be reflected in school performance.
Comment by Skeeter Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 4:33 pm
Skeeter – I fled Chicago 15 years ago. I lived there and I didn’t like it. Please try to avoid the name called. It is unbecoming a “gentleman†of your education and stature in society.
For those of us who live outside the beltway known as I-355, out among the corn and WIDE-open spaces, township government has been pretty good.
LaSalle County did not have a countywide zoning ordnance for many years. Over the past few years, bitter battles have been fought opposing such a law. Unfortunately, our fair county is being invaded from the north as Yorkville other such ilk sprawl into the cornfields. It has been the townships that have provided the necessary zoning to try to limit the invasion.
In the course of my work, I have dealt with many county highway engineers, mostly because my projects were impacting their roads. Many of them don’t want the narrow (18′ wide) tar and chip roads that provide the mobility for farmers and other people who live among the weeds. The county or city engineers don’t have the time or the money to take over the jurisdiction and maintenance of these lower volume (100 cars per day) roads.
The township highway departments take care of the roads and plow the snow.
Once a township road hits the city line, it becomes the city’s problem. A county road can go through a city, and often does out here in the sticks.
Get rid of townships? Give their operations to the cities and counties? If you think that it will cut the bureaucracy, please think again. The agencies taking over the duties will have to take on new employees to deal with the added work.
Drainage districts provide a necessary function. There are areas south of Kankakee in Ford and Iroquois Counties that are nearly as flat and level as a tabletop. The drainage districts provide the local knowledge and ability to keep the storm water flowing down stream.
I will take a small unit of government that is dedicated to local issues any day. The people I have met in the counties, townships and the drainage districts are knowledgeable and down to earth people who genuinely feel that they are providing a public service.
Comment by Farmer Brown Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 6:20 pm
skeeter, I didn’t yell and scream. I lived in wards that weren’t critical to the city’s economic vitality or the mayor’s public image. That’s why my aldermen were never able to help me the way Natarus apparently has been able to help you. Take a drive through Englewood and tell me if you think the residents there are getting the same service as you.
Comment by grand old partisan Wednesday, Jun 7, 06 @ 6:47 pm
The boundaries for the City of Springfield and Capital Township are the same. As such, all your government services are provided by the city. As far as I know, the only service provided by Capital Township is financial assistance. And, that is very specific in very limited circumstances.
Comment by Marie C. Thursday, Jun 8, 06 @ 12:20 am
Redbyrd, Jake, GOP and even VanillaMan make good points…some types of local government also exist because they provide services that are not city priorities. Libraries, for example. Library services are never gonna rate higher than new squad cars or a new hook-and-ladder or street resurfacing. So by being a separate elected board, addressing only library issues with a limited tax authority, the community gets what it wants (if it didn’t want it, the library district could be eliminated).
I imagine some patronage occurs at library districts, school districts, and park districts, but not much at all compared to townships and cities.
Mosquito abatement ought to be able to be handled by a county, right? And drainage districts, right? And townships…right?
Comment by Mongo Thursday, Jun 8, 06 @ 6:27 am
…but it’s pronounced “Throat Wobbler Mangrove.”
One above said that Townships provide “Social Services–again, counties and the State have similar programs in place.”
Complete bias - I AM a Township Trustee. But I ran for it only after investigating this very issue. Turns out, compact little Township governments are WAY more efficient at delivering social services to the same populations than the larger, consolidated governments. Why? Because since there isn’t as much - nearly as much - in it for those who get elected to Township boards, the people that you get to run…actually want to make government work. We do it because we care - it certainly ain’t for the money.
Mongo is right, too - “some types of local government also exist because they provide services that are not city priorities.” True dat. The Chicago Park District, for example. There have been regular moves but Dis Mayor and his predecessors to turn the CPD into the City Parks Department. If that had succeeded, Chicago’s Aldermen and Mayors would have sold off the park land to stopgap their budgets decades ago. As a stand-alone, even if the Board is appointed by Da Mayor, the CPD has been able to keep the wolves away from the door.
Townships do indeed do things the larger units either aren’t interested in or aren’t a main priority. And we generally do it at far lower cost.
Comment by Mr. Luxury Yacht Thursday, Jun 8, 06 @ 2:24 pm