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 Illinois’ nearly 7,000 units of
government, the most of any state in the country, can be expensive for
taxpayers. And residents in Chicago’s collar counties know this well.
Of the five collar counties, Lake County leads the way with 184 units of
government, followed by DuPage (174), Will (159), Kane (113) and McHenry (104),
according to data collected by The Civic Federation.
Lake has 10 more governments than DuPage despite having roughly 25 percent fewer
residents. Of its 184 governments, Lake has 45 municipalities and 18 townships,
both more than any other collar county.
With so many units of government, it’s not much of a surprise the collar
counties pay the highest property taxes in the state and among the highest
property taxes in the country. At a median rate of $6,881, Lake County taxpayers
pay the highest property taxes in the state and the 21st highest in the nation.
DuPage, at a median rate of $6,274, is second in the state and 27th in the
nation. The collar counties account for five of the top six most expensive
counties in the state for property taxes.
 But there are many places to consolidate and cut local governments, if
politicians are willing. School district consolidation would be an obvious area
– Illinois has 859 local school districts, the fifth most in the nation, with
many of these districts serving few students but carrying high administrative
costs. By just cutting the number of school districts in half, Illinois could
save nearly $130 million to $170 million annually in operating costs and could
conservatively save the state $3 billion to $4 billion in pension costs over the
next 30 years. If savings here could be found in collar county school districts,
it would be a boon for taxpayers.
Municipal government is not immune to possible consolidation either. In Lake
County, for example, Round Lake, Round Lake Beach, Round Lake Park and Round
Lake Heights – all of similar makeup and between 2,000 and 30,000 in population
– share a fire department and park district, but each maintain separate police
departments, elected officials and village administrators making as much as
$180,000 per year. Just by consolidating duplicative service between Round Lake
and Round Lake Beach alone, taxpayers could save up to $3 million each year.
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A bill in Springfield in
2016 would have expanded local governments’ ability to consolidate.
But state Rep. Sam Yingling, D-Grayslake, proposed an amendment that
would prevent any reduction in personnel or in compensation or
benefits for union-represented government employees if a unit of
local government were to dissolve. That bill did not become law, but
Yingling added similar language to a consolidation effort – Public
Act 100-107 – that did become law in 2017, significantly hobbling
cost savings.
The law also allows for
consolidation of road townships, and other lawmakers have taken
small, incremental steps to allow for consolidating services. But
with the nation’s highest total of governments – and the nation’s
highest property taxes – more significant steps are needed. To its
credit, DuPage County has led the way, creating an initiative in
2012 to look for ways to consolidate local government. Residents
have responded positively: Voters in the DuPage city of Naperville
in 2016 overwhelmingly said they support consolidation efforts at
the local level.
However under PA 100-107, DuPage, McHenry and Lake counties will not
enjoy the same consolidation powers they had before. Previously, all
three of those collar counties were allowed to pursue more
aggressive reforms that cut duplicative local governments and the
high cost of the government workers they employed. But starting in
January 2018, DuPage, McHenry and Lake county voters will not be
able terminate the government-worker contracts of the offices
they’ve voted to get rid of.
This severely limits the public’s abilities to save costs, which
will pose significant hurdles for residents seeking to ease the
collar counties’ massive property tax burden.
Taxpayers in the collar counties are clamoring for tax relief, and
they’re protesting with their feet: More than 9,000 people left
DuPage County and more than 5,000 people left Lake County from July
2015 – July 2016, causing both county populations to drop. Kane,
McHenry and Will counties also all saw domestic out-migration in
that timeframe. A September 2016 poll from the Paul Simon Public
Policy Institute shows taxes as the No. 1 reason to leave.
If lawmakers and local elected officials want to reverse these
trends, government consolidation would be a positive step. For
collar county taxpayers, that can’t come soon enough.
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