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 After being vetoed by former Gov. Bruce Rauner in January,
state lawmakers have given new life to a bipartisan township consolidation bill.
On May 16, the Illinois Senate passed House Bill 348, voting 44-3 to send the
measure to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk. State Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington
Hills, introduced the bill in the House in January, and was carried in the
Senate by state Sen. Terry Link, D-Vernon Hills.
Chief co-sponsors included state Reps. Jonathan Carroll, D-Northbrook; Sam
Yingling, D-Grayslake; Mark Batinick, R-Plainfield; and Allen Skillicorn, R-East
Dundee.
HB 348 would relax requirements for residents seeking to abolish their townships
in McHenry County, making it easier for taxpayers to cut a layer of local
government that is often inefficient at best and corrupt at worst.
 McHenry County has 17 townships and its residents paid the highest average
effective property tax rate among the collar counties in 2018. Under HB 348,
each township board of trustees could call a referendum asking voters whether to
eliminate their township. If voters were to choose to consolidate the township,
the results would be binding and the county would absorb the dissolved
township’s duties and responsibilities.
HB 348 would also make it easier for taxpayers themselves to petition for the
dissolution of their township. Currently, to even begin the referendum process,
residents must collect signatures from 10% of the registered voters who voted in
the last comparable election – from each of the county’s 17 townships, not just
the one they’re looking to dissolve.
Under HB 348, residents would only need signatures from 5% of registered voters
– or 250 signatures total, whichever number is larger – and only from the
targeted township.
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Additionally, HB 348 would dissolve all road
districts responsible for fewer than 15 miles of road in both
McHenry and Lake counties.
This should find warm reception among homeowners in McHenry County,
where the average effective property tax bill is $6,425 – among the
highest in Illinois. The bill would offer a path toward property tax
relief if voters opt for consolidation: The property tax levy of the
dissolved township and its road district would be capped at 90% of
their original levies before transferring duties to the county,
meaning a guaranteed levy decrease of at least 10%.
In 2017, McHenry County resident Bob Anderson helped lead a
coalition of candidates to win township board seats on the promise
of abolishing McHenry Township Road District. While Anderson
successfully introduced a referendum to dissolve the district, the
November 2018 vote came up short.
“We found out when government is established, how difficult it is to
remove it,” Anderson told supporters on election night. HB 348 would
ease that process.
Not only are townships wasteful, but they are especially susceptible
to corruption. At one point in 2018, three townships in McHenry
County were simultaneously under criminal investigations by McHenry
County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally. In a report, the state’s
attorney described a climate of “incompetence, guile and
impropriety” in Algonquin Township, and recommended consolidating it
with other local units of government.
Pritzker should sign HB 348, giving local taxpayers greater power to
rein in local government waste and find savings through
consolidation.
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