Tuesday, June 21, 2011
 
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Logan County Board to make big decennial decisions: precincts and board member compensation

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[June 21, 2011]  Logan County Board members addressed numerous topics at Thursday's board of whole that would come to a vote at its adjourned session tonight.

In April, with the new census information in hand, the finance committee initiated several time-sensitive processes that are decided every 10 years.

One county board obligation is to re-establish county voting territories, currently set as districts and precincts.

A related matter is to reset board member compensation.

These are all matters that need county board approval and public display time before candidates would file for positions in the next election.

Districts

Districts are set by population -- how many people live in an area.

The county's total population includes the prisons, though that population is not counted for the county's voting districts. The districts are divided to contain even numbers of population that are then represented by two board members.

Finance chairman Chuck Ruben observed, "We lost actually 1,540 (total population), as the prisons gained 671 (inmates) and we lost 878 (citizens)."

In May, the board approved that the county would continue with the same number of districts -- six -- and would remain at two representatives per district.

The district dividing lines would remain nearly the same. There are now fewer voters in District 2. So, a few voters were taken out of the larger adjacent districts 4 and 5.

To stay as districts or to return to choosing board members at large would also be put to voters as a 10-year question in the next election. But if districts would be chosen again, the new territories and numbers are now set.

The board approved the districts in May.

Two more related decennial matters could be decided tonight.

Board member compensation

It appeared that the board would agree to reset board member compensation at $60 per diem with no paid benefits.

Board members would also continue to be compensated for travel while on board business and to meetings.

This was the proposal that was brought forward out of the finance committee last month but failed to get approval.

Board members would no longer be paid insurance benefits. To arrive at the proposed figure, finance chairman Chuck Ruben took the total amount that is being paid out to board members, including insurance benefits that some board members partake in, and then redistributed it evenly to all board members as a per diem.

The proposed figure compares with board compensation in counties of like size to Logan County and to the compensation for Lincoln City Council members.

The new rate would start on Dec. 1, 2012, and would affect future boards for the next 10 years. None of the current sitting board members would receive this new compensation unless re-elected. All current terms are set to expire Nov. 30, 2011, when the board would also be reset by district or at-large representation.

Precincts and polling places

On Thursday, Terry Carlton announced that both Democratic and Republican Party representatives were consulted, and it was agreed that the county's 45 precincts could be reduced to 28 precincts. He had a new map that had met with the approval of both parties.

Some polling place consolidations would be announced later as well.

Reducing the number of precincts and polling locations would not only reduce costs, but also simplify finding locations.

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In March, board chairman Bob Farmer and finance chairman Chuck Ruben asked Sally Litterly, the county clerk, to see how precincts might be consolidated and to create a new map.

Precincts are set by voter numbers. By Illinois law, precincts must be kept under 800 voters.

Litterly explained that when deciding a precinct, you count the actual number of voters who cast ballots, not total registered voters. She averaged votes from the last two elections in determining the new consolidated precincts.

In answering questions during the May finance committee meeting, Litterly said there are no limitations for distance where polling places can be located. One polling place consolidation includes moving Lake Fork voting to Laenna. Lake Fork had about 10 voters with five election judges all day.

While convenience has been a consideration, it is no longer like in the horse-and-buggy days, Litterly observed. Other committeemen agreed with her that many people drive into Lincoln to work and that early voting also allows convenience for people to come to the courthouse when they are in town.

There is one factor for setting precincts. "If you have a town within a precinct, you have to have a precinct within a town," she said. Examples she gave are that Emden has Orville 1, Hartsburg has Orville 2, and you need to keep it like that. This allows for population representation.

Elkhart, which is split between Hurlbut and Elkhart townships, presents a unique situation. That polling place would be kept in Elkhart, as one of its polling places -- the township shed -- is just a mile away from the other precinct location.

Litterly said you could work a year to figure out all the ways you would see savings with these consolidations.

"Times are tough. And, no one's giving us any money to do this. So, what we're trying to do here is eliminate expense," she said.

Eliminating a polling place by consolidation cuts costs of the polling place use, machines and signs.

Consolidating precincts reduces numerous costs: Precinct kits run $100 each; five election judges are needed to represent each precinct; and there would be fewer cards to code and fewer ballots to print. In short, there would be a minimum savings of $600 per precinct just in judges and kits, and a bigger savings overall to county taxpayers.

Once approved, new districts and precincts would be viewable on the county's GIS.

[By JAN YOUNGQUIST]

Past related articles

Other information

2010 Census Redistricting Data

Decennial census data are used for geographically defining state legislative districts, a "redistricting" process that begins in 2011. County level data by state is available through the Census Bureau's interactive map tool. For more local area data about your state, visit American FactFinder.

(Copied from http://2010.census.gov/2010census/
data/redistricting-data.php
)

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