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* Despite being born in Kankakee, living in Utah for a while and then Germany, Iroquois County is where I grew up. I was back there over the holidays and checked my “Around Me” app on my iPhone for something or another. The app also has a “Nearby” option that tells you a bit about where you happen to be at the moment. I clicked it and saw something that I never knew.
Iroquois County, population 29,718, has 26 townships. That’s just a little more than 1,000 people per township, on average. Milks Grove Township, where I grew up, has just 177 people. Here’s a township map…
Iroquois has 1,100 square miles, making it the third largest in Illinois. But it’s more farmland than people. They have 25 county board members there, again, about one for every thousand people, and ten school districts.
This is not some pro-government liberal bastion, either. Iroquois is one of the most rock-ribbed Republican counties you’ll ever find.
* I’ve always been partial to rural townships because I know that my former neck of the woods would’ve been shortchanged if the county took over everything, like roads, for instance. The resources would most likely go to the places with higher populations, like Watseka.
But, man, those stats are truly eye-openers.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 8:04 am
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What’s so eye-opening? You have described about 80% of the townships and school districts in the state. The other 20% are where most of the people live.
And I was told when I was young that Greer (in the southeast corner of Iroquois) was at one of the four corners of the globe.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 8:19 am
Almost every one of the nine school districts (KCC extension center doesn’t count) are consolidated. Some more than once, so it’s more efficient than it was when we were kids. Twenty-five county board members seems like alot, but as you point out, it’s a big place (and felt bigger walking beans in August). Every one of those little farm towns is pretty parochial when it comes to their interests and want their representation.
Comment by Way Way Down Here Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 8:31 am
I agree that there is a purpose for township governments in rural counties. I am baffled why township governments continue to exist in metropolitan areas and suburbs. This is especially redundant in those areas where the entire township shares its boundaries with an incorporated municipality (for example, Berwyn, Cicero, Evanston, River Forest, etc.). I strongly believe in such locations that township governments ought to be abolished. In Chicago, the only remaining purpose for township classifications is to identify properties for real estate assessments.
Comment by Esquire Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 8:34 am
According to the most recent data I could find from the U.S. Census Bureau, Illinois ranks:
* 5th in population.
* 1st in overall number of local governments (6,994).
* 1st in number of municipalities (1,299).
* 3rd in number of townships (1,432).
* 1st in number of special district governments (3,249).
As to Illinois school districts that have a high school (and some do not have a high school):
* 90% of the districts have only one high school.
* 6% have two high schools.
* 2% have three high schools.
* 2% of the districts have four or more high schools. The term ‘four or more’ means 4, 5, 6, and Chicago which has many more high schools.
With all these units of government you have lots of ‘local control’. I also feel that you have lots of duplication (which others might call a form of ‘job creation’).
Comment by Left Out Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 8:49 am
I used to do some work back in the ’80’s in Iroquois County. Oddly enough, it has one of the nicer, modern courthouses you will find in the entire State of Illinois. I believe the land was donated to the county by a local farmer.
Comment by Stones Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 9:06 am
what, it’s not all Cook County government nonsense? shocking. not.
Comment by amalia Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 9:13 am
The Buckle Of The Corn Belt. My favorite local motto.
Comment by Been There Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 9:15 am
Left Out -
No no, you’ve got it wrong. Those are public jobs. When the government puts people to work, it’s ‘wasteful spending’, not ‘job creation’.
Comment by Concerned Observer Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 9:18 am
Iroquois is rock-ribbed Republican and enjoys a high number of units of government per capita,. I guess when the GOPers say they’re for less government, they don’t mean fewer units of local government.
Comment by reformer Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 9:21 am
Has any progress been made in terms of the proposal to dissolve the Evanston Township government? It was debated in 2010.
Comment by Esquire Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 9:25 am
Oh man, you’re saying that downstaters from a county of 30,000 feel like resources flowing toward the county seat (a town of 5,200) is somehow unfair? Cook County doesn’t have a chance.
Comment by lincoln's beard Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 9:32 am
I thought Kankakee was pretty bad with 17 townships. It probably has a similar number of school boards. Both counties have huge problem with their budgets. I was looking into what it takes to eliminate a township and it isn’t very easy. Surely, some of these need to go away.
Comment by k3_Spfld_Chi Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 9:36 am
Great example of how Illinois is a “local control” state. Hence the conundrum for GOP small government advocates. Exactly who are they going to turn control over to? It’s great to talk about smaller (as in less) government. But that means doing away with someone’s locally elected official and turning control over to a broader, bigger entity. It’s always somebody else’s local government that’s waste.
Comment by Michelle Flaherty Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 9:42 am
If I recall, a Township is typically 36 square miles (6 miles x 6 miles) and therefore is dictated by area rather than population.
Comment by Stones Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 9:44 am
Part of me hates to say this–I’m a former township supervisor–but it’s time to seriously rethink the township structure, and perhaps to eliminate it entirely. It’s also time to give some serious thought to adopting the Indiana method of organizing school districts.
Comment by RFK fan Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 10:03 am
I just wish that my semi-annual property tax payments to the Des Plaines Valley Mosquito Abatement District would assure me a bite-free summer — just once.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 10:04 am
wordslinger-well played sir.
Comment by shore Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 10:05 am
I also live in one of those under 200 population townships. Nearly every township voter is either an elected or appointed official — cemetery, building, fire district, or trustee. Sometimes we have trouble just getting people on the ballot to fill available positions.
Comment by HartVoter Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 10:24 am
I would like to see the State provide incentives aimed at encouraging governments to consolidate. I don’t know what a good incentive would be but I am sure some of you have thought this idea through better than I have (short-term tax increase?). If the State gives incentives to keep select handpicked corporations to stay in Illinois, why not encourage leaner and meaner local government? This approach seems more just than to simply eliminate voter-created units by legislative fiat.
Comment by Jake From Elwood Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 10:24 am
It would seem as though Iroquis County could easily reduce the number of county board members by at least 5 or 6 members? I am not sure how much their county board members get paid (or what their perqusites might be)but it would seem like Iroquis County taxpayers an over-abundance of representation on their county board.
Comment by Wilson Pickett Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 10:25 am
@ stones: typically, but not necessarily. Rivers and creeks (or other geographical features) sometimes influence the area, as did the political makeup of the original residents, which probably explains the breaking up of larger townships years ago.
A couple of comments about consolidating townships: each township’s voters determine whether on not they will merge: i.e., all townships must vote “yes”; if one township collectively votes “no”, the merger is off. LOCAL CONTROL becomes the big issue, and how can anyone (republican or democrat or whatever) argue against individual voters’ rights?
@RFK Can’t agree with you about eliminating townships [especially rural road districts, (I might be prejudiced there)], but would agree that some consolidation or other changes might be desirable.
Comment by downstate commissioner Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 10:28 am
I noticed something similar last time I looked at election results by county and noticed how tiny some of those counties are. As a lifelong Cook County (most of that time in Chicago) resident, I find it boggling.
Could some of you from down there tell me how one patch of farmland has radically different interests from another such that you need your own county, township, etc.? I seriously don’t get it. I’m not trying to be rude. I honestly don’t see why you need all those layers of government when the interests appear identical. It just seems like a huge waste of resources.
Comment by Skeeter Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 10:43 am
For Chicago to have the same ratio we would need to add about 2,800 aldermen to the city council. I’d love to see the reaction to THAT proposal!
Comment by Lakefront Liberal Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 10:45 am
Rich– I think you’re right about a lot of rural townships. Often they do play a vital role in the everyday lives of taxpayers.
But there are times, particularly in more urban areas where a vast majority of people live in incorporated or county run areas, where townships serve the purpose of providing jobs for families, friends, and political allies who have been in power for generations.
Townships used to be the form of government that provided people with basic services, but municipalities and county government have sprung up in and around them for hundreds of years, rendering them somewhat useless in many respects.
While better government does not equal less government, in this case we should be taking a look at whether this relic of the past is still necessary.
Comment by Emily Miller Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 10:49 am
Conservative because things that are anachronistic are conserved long past their useful life. When roads were created w/ horse drawn graders and manpower in raw “untamed” territory or over horse tracks, individual townships were necessary to ensure a fair distribution and creation of such roads. Now, most all historic purpose is gone in the dust of “we’ve always done it this way, we can’t change it”. Local control is usually local status quo and cronyism.
Comment by D.P. Gumby Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 10:56 am
Our road commissioner is pretty worthless and we wind up going to our county board member with about everything anyway, so I am more than happy to support consolidation/elimination of township government.
Comment by Jaded Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 11:03 am
The sad fact is Illinois has this number of governmental entities because of the explosive resistance encountered whenever an attempt is made to change it. Jake From Elwood, even incentives don’t do much. There are currently incentives offered to school districts to consolidate and they help, but not much (if you were a local superintendent, how hard would you work to eliminate your job?).
Back in the ’80’s the School District Reorganization Act set up committees to prepare plans for reorganization of school districts. Even though final approval of any recommended consolidations was to be subject to voter approval, the proverbial crap hit the blades out there in voter land, and the outcry was so intense that the GA came back the next year and gutted it. No consolidations happened, but the uproar caused still gives legislators pause when the subject of school consolidation comes up.
As has been said here many times, everyone wants cuts, they just want someone else to feel the pain.
Comment by TwoFeetThick Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 11:10 am
The county of Cook, with 5.19 million people, somehow gets along with just 17 county commissioners. Iroquois, with just 29,700 people, needs 25 commissioners.
If Cook had the same ratio of commissioners to residents, we’d have to add 4,368 more commissioners. No thanks!
And downstaters claim it’s just those of us from the City that believe in government excess.
Comment by reformer Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 11:15 am
Stones, you are correct, but some townships are about half that size (usually separated from an erstwhile twin by a large river, etc.) and a few are larger, if they pick up an odd-shaped corner etc. that is not large enough to have its own township. Look at the map above - the 36 mile square townships are easy to pick out. The difference between the state’s least and most populous townships is probably 10x or more the difference between Cook and the least populated counties.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 11:16 am
If the GOP is looking for a place to make cuts that won’t be painful to those actually receiving services (as oppose to those who are cashing the paychecks), the State payments to township governments would be the first place to start. If local residents want those services, they can pay for them locally; if they don’t think the services they get are worth an extra bump in local property and sales taxes, then that’s their decision.
Comment by soccermom Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 11:16 am
Look at the turnout in the ENTIRE state of Iowa. The winner gets 30K votes and this sets the trends for picking the leader of the Free “bleeping” World. There are more votes in Thorton Township.
Of course Iowa does host a Cubs farm team so it is truly understanding how their decisions should shape America.
Townships are the greatest scams..uncle orville’s idiot son gets to be road commish, buy a truck from cousin donnie’s used truck lot, banks, insurance, upkeep on town building…..not a lot, but just enough …
And the overworked media never,ever looks. Even HandoutAndy never gets to townships.
Comment by CircularFiringSquad Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 11:19 am
It seems to me that the number and size of commissions and boards in any locality becomes relevent when there are high salaries, perks, overlap of responsibility, and great power involved by the folks holding the seats–like in Cook County. In Iroquois County townships, as in most rural areas, this is hardly a case for concern. There is small if any “salary” associated in the positions, little power beyond performing necessary administrative tasks, and very few dynasties. They don’t look for things to do. They do only what needs to be done like hire a new history teacher, repair the library roof, or buy a new ditch mower.
The tradition of having many individual citizens involved in aspects of their local government bodies (parks, library, roads, drainage, schools), results in a good percentage of the population more keenly aware of local issues. To outsiders this view of active participative citizenship may seem (and be) like a relic of a bygone era. But what is the harm? Really? Iroquios County Illinois is a great place to live and be from.
Comment by Responsa Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 11:19 am
So, what you are saying Rich is that where you used to live the sun set between your house and the highway?
Sounds like a lot of good folks in that area.
Not sure if the township concept plays that well anymore but I do like the participation advantage.
Comment by Sunshine Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 11:32 am
What a way to run a railroad!
Despite all the documented inefficiencies the consensus here seems to be to continue the inefficiencies. What a mess.
It may be reasonable to continue township government system in the more rural areas, but all townships are within counties who should be able to perform the needed tasks. In the more populated counties there are many units of government who could fulfill the needed functions currently fulfilled by the township layer.
Business has been consolidating layers of management/administrative for years. Time to put the lessons learned in business to work in the governmental sector.
Comment by Plutocrat03 Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 11:34 am
Local Government conolidation.
I think the question has to be asked, where will the savings occur?
Two reasons why this will be a hard sell.
Scenerio 1
You eliminate some townships. So who picks up the slack of what they do? Another township, the County? So they are going to do this for free? No, now you are paying the same taxes but instead of being able to go to Frank down the road, you have to drive 10 miles to see a guy who already has friends he is beholden to. How much are you going to get out of him? You need gravel on the road past your house because you get stuck. You are now on a longer list held by somebody you don’t know. Did consolidation help you?
Scenerio 2
The state steps in and says we are going to put a referendum on the ballot that will eliminate and consolidate townships and school districts. This will save you from having to pay so many taxes to so many different governments. That way you can afford to pay more taxes to us for the services we are providing you. Your total tax will not go up and you will get better services. Just look at our track record…….
Comment by Irish Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 11:38 am
@soccermom- townships are funded through local property taxes. They receive some fuel tax money and matching funds where applicable, but they exist because they are able to tax the people that live within their boundaries– even when those people receive no services from them.
As it stands now under Illinois law, residents of a township are not allowed to discontinue their township bureaucracy if they decide the services provided by their township are duplicative or unnecessary.
In order for one township in a County to discontinue, every township must act collectively to get 10 percent of voters in every township in the county to sign a petition to get the issue on the ballot as a referendum in the next general election. Then the referendum must get a majority of the votes in at least three‑fourths of the townships, containing at least a majority of the population in the county, in order for it to pass.
When it comes to eliminating township government under the current township code, it’s all or nothing– taxpayers in individual townships cannot choose for themselves whether to continue paying for that form of government.
Comment by Emily Miller Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 11:46 am
One area where consolidations could offer savings is at the township road level. Many townships barely maintain above 7 miles of road (which I believe is the minimum required to get a state Motor Fuel Tax stipend). Most every one of the townships has its own maintenance shed, some have trucks, plows, etc. and each has a road commissioner who is usually part time. The county could take over these functions and achieve economies of scale by consolidating and selling off excess equipment and buildings and hiring seasonal people to plow snow, etc. as needed.
Of course, if your township is very conscientious in its road maintenance and the county isn’t, you’d likely want to keep the status quo.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 11:54 am
“I think you’re right about a lot of rural townships. Often they do play a vital role in the everyday lives of taxpayers.”
In Illinois 17 counties have no townships. Most of these counties are in the southern and western parts of the state. They include such counties as: Calhoun, Union, Johnson, Pope, Hardin, Massac, Pulaski, and Alexander. All are very rural counties. Rather than townships being vital to those who live in these counties they play no part in their lives (as they do not exist).
Comment by Left Out Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 12:48 pm
It is far past time that we take a look at consolidating or eliminating some levels of government. I have to believe that their is some level of savings and improved efficiency that could be realized. There certainly is need to merger some school districts. I know a lot of rural communities love the idea maintaining their own local school. That being said I also know of several rural schools that are struggling to provide even the classes need to met state graduation requirements for high school, let alone the minimum that most colleges and universities expect.
Comment by RMWStanford Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 12:52 pm
Always the contrarian, I offer this:
If the local government organization is duplicative of some other level of government, isn’t that level of government often the State. Perhaps we are looking at this from the wrong point of view, and that the State should do less, the locals more, and any State mandates be backed by State funding, often in the form of block granting.
Comment by Cincinnatus Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 1:24 pm
Cinci
Illinois boasts the most units of local government of any state.
But you want to expand local government — the very area where the Land of Lincoln is bloated — and put State government on a crash diet, even though we already have fewer state workers per capita of any state.
Comment by reformer Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 1:37 pm
I’m a little to the right of Attila the Hun in terms of political philosophy. That said, I get in trouble with some of my fellow conservatives when I mention that we need to look at eliminating some of the townships and some of the more rural government agencies. There is a lot of government spending that we need to get rid of that affects the more urban (Democrat) areas. If I champion the cause of eliminating spending that affects Democrats, I better be willing to shed government spending that affects Conservatives and Republicans.
It’s hypocritical to think otherwise. Cut spending for all.
Comment by Ghost of John Brown Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 1:41 pm
In Madison County, especially in the more rural townships, the township trustees are almost always positions that come WITHOUT compensation. No cost savings there.
The tax assessors are paid if they do the work, or their not paid and the county provides the actual services. So, in essence, if you eliminate or consolidate, chances are the county assessor’s office staff with grow in number.
Whether it would be worth eliminating the supervisors, road supervisors, and clerks depends on whether voters are willing to give up local control.
I wouldn’t want to depend on partisan county politicians to dictate maintenance of my township roads. And, eliminating the road supervisor staff will likely mean a dramatic increase in county highway department staff. And, when you quadruple the amount of miles of road supervision, all those management salaries will likely increase as you build a larger organization to take care of the dramatically increased services.
Doesn’t sound like a lot of cost savings and it will be a terribly partisan departure from the local, mostly nonpartisan, control currently.
Comment by Madison County Watcher Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 1:47 pm
It would seem easier to consolidate some of say the township level function into the city/town/village or country level than the other way around. In the case of school system we have districts that in some cases are to small, ie do we need seperate districts for high school, junior high/primary schools that serve the same region, or they serve areas that have to few students and should be consolidated.
Comment by RMWStanford Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 1:47 pm
What it tells me is that once you get it you can’t get rid of it. The people in charge become invested in their precious sinecures while the most of the people who pay for it don’t even realize what’s happening. Of course, it represents a huge waste of precious resources, but don’t try telling that to the township supervisor who gets a check every month for doing very little. The slugs in the legislature, of course, won’t do anything about it because they don’t want to rock the political boat.
Comment by Jim Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 1:53 pm
Irish: Six Degrees talks about roads, and I have to agree. Consider these scenarios: Your township road commissioner is a cranky old guy and if you honk him off, you don’t get your road plowed or paved. Or maybe he just doesn’t like you, period. Or, there’s someone who lives in a different township who tears up your roads with his heavy trucks/equipment. You spend your township’s money to fix your roads, but in the end, the main beneficiary is someone in another township. And besides the roads, what is the purpose of Township government?
Comment by Anon Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 1:55 pm
Madison County
Those of us in suburban Cook County have townships with as few as 5 miles of unincorporated roads (ELk Grove Twp), yet a well-paid hwy commissioner, his staff, equipment and building. It’s not very efficient on a cost-per-mile basis, but to listen to the diehard twp defenders, hwy commissioners are indispensable, even in highly urban areas.
Comment by reformer Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 2:07 pm
Cinci:
The clear answer to your question is “No”. The vast bulk of duplication of services by a typical local gov’t body in Illinois, is with another local government body, if we include county, regional, and township levels. Just because it’s local, doesn’t mean it isn’t inefficient and wasteful of taxpayer money.
We might have more ideological reasons to favor local government, but productivity and efficiency cannot be among them.
A lot of critics of government waste always assume it must be somewhere else, some place they actually know little about. My own experience and study of gov’t spending in Illinois led to the conclusion, (a shock to me at the time), that the inefficiency and waste at the local level, regardless of the political party in control, dwarf the state-level problems. It’s also the conclusion that many of our local Tea Partiers have reached recently, much to the chagrin of some local self-labeled “conservative” pols.
Comment by walkinfool Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 2:17 pm
There have been numerous media examinations of township governments illuminating some of the “issues” … .
Better Government Association has recently looked at townships in suburban Cook County.
http://www.bettergov.org/investigations/why_townships_dont_add_up_part_one_overview.aspx
In the past there have been press reviews … this link
http://theinsidedope.blogspot.com/2007/01/why-do-we-need-township-government.html
talks about the Quad Cities (the link to the Quad Cities paper doesn’t work).
While some townships may provide valuable services cheaply, the fact that some rural counties exist without townships shows the “work” can, and is, done by another government, not townships.
Comment by Anyone Remember? Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 2:19 pm
@Anyone Remember? Thanks for the links. The information answered most of my questions about the redundancy of township governments in suburban Cook County.
One final question: Which ten of the thirty suburban townships in Cook County do not report their budgets to the State?
Comment by Esquire Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 2:36 pm
Emily Miller — that’s useful information, thanks. It seems as though some legislative reforms are in order.
Comment by soccermom Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 2:42 pm
The media[ Trib] did a great series several years ago that clearly demonstrated the waste of townships.That series was ignored.Townships are far too valuable to politics for them to be messed with
Comment by anon Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 3:44 pm
@ - CircularFiringSquad - “Look at the turnout in the ENTIRE state of Iowa. The winner gets 30K votes and this sets the trends for picking the leader of the Free “bleeping” World. ”
Not really. Mike Huckabee won the Iowa Caucuses last time around.
Comment by Cheryl44 Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 3:54 pm
I had a friend whose family owned a small farm on the Iroquois River. A sidewalk road led to it from Clifton Road. We’d camp there and canoe. No house on the lot. A bridge was out on the sidewalk road for an entire summer.
Caught poison ivy on the banks of that muddy river too often, but it was a lot of fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n81doCdMzwE
Comment by Kasich Walker, Jr. Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 8:36 pm
A tighter version of “Catfish John” performed by that kid girl Illinois fiddler:
Comment by Kasich Walker, Jr. Wednesday, Jan 4, 12 @ 8:57 pm
“Iroquois is one of the most rock-ribbed Republican counties you’ll ever find. ”
I always joked that my grandma was the only Democrat in Iroquois County…..my dad keeps telling me she would disown me if she knew how conservative I became….
Comment by np Thursday, Jan 5, 12 @ 2:07 am