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 In an encouraging move for area taxpayers, the city of
Springfield may give residents the opportunity to find savings by eliminating an
unneeded layer of government.
While a proposal to put an advisory question on the November ballot to dissolve
Capital Township originally died in City Council, Springfield Mayor Jim
Langfelder informed council members Aug. 7 that he is collecting signatures in
an effort to put that same question on the April 2019 ballot.
“It’s really about providing property tax relief,” Langfelder said. “That’s what
it’s all about. [With property tax relief] people have more money and then it
helps the economy.”
The proposal would appear as an advisory referendum, meaning that while it
requires a smaller number of signatures to land a spot on the ballot, the result
would be nonbinding. That advisory question would follow a similar referendum
set to appear on the coming November ballot, asking voters whether to
consolidate the same township with Sangamon County. Since neither question is
binding, both could pass independent of each other. But Langfelder says it makes
more sense to consolidate with the city, as its borders are coterminous with the
township.
“Any townships that have boundaries within a municipality, it should be easier
to abolish those,” Langfelder said.
Unfortunately for taxpayers, local government consolidation is often an uphill
climb. As it stands now, to get a binding consolidation referendum onto a
ballot, voters need a petition signed by 10 percent of registered voters from
each township in the county. It’s an unnecessarily burdensome task – but a
worthwhile one, especially for overburdened Springfield taxpayers.
The typical Springfield homeowner’s property tax dollars flow to 10 different
units of local government. The property tax bill for a house in Springfield
selling at about $127,000 – near the median home value – was more than $2,600 in
2017. While the amount flowing to Capital Township is relatively low – 1.1
percent of the bill – those savings would bring welcome change to a tax bill
that’s far too high. It would also set a precedent for consolidating Illinois’
nearly 7,000 units of government – the highest count of any state in the nation.
But whether or not the effort to consolidate the township is successful, plenty
of additional work is still needed to bring down Springfield’s high property tax
bills.
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More than 60 percent of the typical Springfield
homeowner’s property tax bill flowed to Springfield Public School
District 186 in 2017. In December 2017, District 186 voted to raise
its 2018 property tax levy by 3.3 percent. Moreover, nearly 18
percent of that homeowner’s property tax bill went to government
workers’ pension funds in 2017, amounting to $467. And 100 percent
of the amount flowing to the city that year went toward pensions.
The city of Springfield’s 1,155 retired employees
enrolled in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund have received
more than $326 million in benefits. Among that group, more than 50
retirees have each collected more than $1 million in total pension
payouts, and eight currently receive annual payouts larger than
$100,000.
Former government employees are not at fault for pension benefits
surpassing what taxpayers can afford. Lawmakers set the rules. And
it is those lawmakers who need to reform the system, as overpromised
pension benefits continue to drive Springfield residents’ property
taxes higher.
Springfield officials know the positive effects pension reform can
have: The city saved $1.5 million in just one year after eliminating
the practice of “pension spiking.” State lawmakers should follow
suit and enact broader reforms that further alleviate Springfield
taxpayers’ pension burden. In the short term, lawmakers should
enroll all new government employees into 401(k)-style retirement
plans, which would offer a better future for taxpayers and
government workers alike. But in the long term, lawmakers will need
to change the state’s constitution to allow for adjustments to
future, unearned benefits for government workers.
In the meantime, taxpayers can support efforts to cut costs at the
local level by consolidating unnecessary layers of government – as
Springfield may soon have the opportunity to do.
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