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 Springfield voters in April will be asked whether
the local township should be eliminated, with the city taking over its limited
duties.
The Springfield City Council voted 6-4 to add the advisory question for
residents. Ald. Joe McMenamin, 7th Ward, said the township and city provide
similar services that should be consolidated.
“It eliminates duplication of government, and we don’t need double layers of
government,” McMenamin said. “We’ve got, in general, way too many units of
government in Illinois, and if we can eliminate some of those units, with a
positive result for the taxpayers, a lesser tax burden and more efficiency we
should do it.”
Illinois leads the nation in local government units by a wide margin with 6,032,
which doesn’t include about 850 school districts. Texas is No. 2, serving 16
million more people with 1,762 fewer government units. In 40 states, residents
live under no more than two layers of local government. In Illinois, 61% of
homeowners live under three, some under 16.
Joe Aiello, who is supervisor of Capital Township within Springfield, said the
city would fall short in serving residents.
“We provide general rental assistance, utility assistance, Workfare assistance,
we repurpose individuals with job skills,” Aiello said. “The city doesn’t
provide those types of services. I think some of our most vulnerable clients,
some of our most famous citizens in this community, are going to be not looked
at and appreciated the way they should be.”
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Townships are tasked with assessing properties, something Aiello said the city
isn’t capable of.
There are 17 townships in Illinois that share exact boundaries with a
municipality, including Capital Township. Three others have been eliminated.
Evanston voters in 2014 consolidated their township with the city. Both shared
boundaries and leaders but were two different taxing bodies. After the first
year of consolidation, the plan saved taxpayers nearly $800,000.
Belleville also shared boundaries and leaders with its township. The township
was eliminated in 2017, a move expected to save taxpayers $260,000 per year.
Godfrey voters eliminated their township in 2018, expecting to save $89,000 per
year.
The Springfield question is advisory, so voters don’t have a final say during
the April 4 election. But consolidating townships with either municipal or
county governments is an idea state lawmakers have pondered and should embrace
as a way to cut down on the government duplication that helps drive Illinois
property taxes to No. 2 in the nation.
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