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Issue: Too Many Governments in Illinois? and 265 Percent More Than the Average for the What Is the Impact on Townships? Six Midwestern States by Shannon N

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Issue: Too Many Governments in Illinois? and 265 Percent More Than the Average for the What Is the Impact on Townships? Six Midwestern States by Shannon N VOL. 13, NO. 1 MAY 2014 policyprofiles Illinois has at least CENTER FOR GOVERNMENTAL STUDIES Northern Illinois University 35 percent more local governments than any other state in the nation issue: Too Many Governments in Illinois? and 265 percent more than the average for the What is the Impact on Townships? six Midwestern states by Shannon N. Sohl and James M. Banovetz bordering it. Editor’s Note: This Policy Profiles provides an update on an age-old issue afflicting Illinois’ large number of Illinois local governments: compared to other states, and even after major reductions in governments helps make the number of school districts, there are still too many local governments in Illinois. But Illinois’ property taxes a breakthrough of sorts has occurred in Evanston. Herein is a summary of where Illinois the second highest in the now stands on this problem. nation and obscures the activities of many of those governments from public Illinois has 6,963 units of local government, at least 35 percent more such view. governments than are found in any other state. Far fewer than one percent of Illinois voters can name all of the governments Township services can be providing services to their residential location. provided by county and municipal governments. Illinois voters have created so many local governments because they have always had a deep seated distrust of all governments. Township programs serving veterans, the The United States Census Bureau (6,963) and the Illinois Comptroller’s Office (8,466) elderly, and the young disagree about the number of local governments in Illinois, but it is clear that Illinois has would be hard to replace. far more units of local government than any other state in the United States.a Township consolidation The result of so many governments is chaos, at least for voters: the Village of Glenview in would ease the state’s Cook County, for example, can be divided into more than 80 different parcels of land, each heavy property tax burden. served by a different combination of local governments. In most Illinois communities, there is literally no chance that a typical voter could name all the local governments servicing Township consolidation that voter’s personal residence. would eliminate jobs in areas already suffering This system literally evolved over time because of general, widespread voter distrust of high unemployment and the state’s governments. Historically, Illinois residents have been reluctant to give broad population decline. powers of taxation to any government. When the public demand for government services in a community exceeded the community’s taxing capacity, residents typically found it The just completed preferable to create new governments, with new but also very limited taxing powers, to consolidation of the City provide the needed specific service. (SeeFigure 1 on the next page.) Following this logic, and Town of Evanston over 25 percent of the state’s cities and villages established special districts to deliver is expected to save local taxpayers over $500,000 annually. aThe Illinois Comptroller’s count of local governments in Illinois as of August 2013 was 8,466 (See State of Illinois Comptroller, “Types of Local Governments in Illinois,” 2013). The U.S. Census Bureau had reported similar numbers for Illinois in previous years, but changed its definition of local governments for its 2012 Census of Governments, deleting 1,396 local road and bridge districts from the Illinois total. Even that major deletion left Illinois far ahead of any other state. CENTER FOR GOVERNMENTAL STUDIES 2 Northern Illinois University policyprofiles Figure 1: The History of Illinois’ Distrust of Government Texas, the state with the second largest number of governments; Illinois’ distrust of government dates back to the 1870’s when Chicago began to grow exponentially as immigrants came to work in its expanding factories and stockyards. 2. Illinois has approximately 50 percent Like other big cities of the time, Chicago’s government created a political machine more units of local government than to help assimilate immigrants and expedite its growth. Along with machine politics the average number of such came enormous corruption which, in Illinois, rapidly spread to the state government governments in the four next largest and to some local governments. states; Middle class opposition to this corruption led to the formation of Chicago’s suburbs 3. Illinois has approximately 165 percent which attempted to operate with a good government political culture built on reforms more units of local government than recommended by what was then called the National Municipal League and is now the average number in the six known as the National Civic League. Midwestern states on its borders. The rapid spread of the council manager form of local government in Illinois after 4. Illinois has nearly twice as many units 1954 was a consequence of the distrust which Illinois residents have had of the state’s of local government as Missouri more traditional, corrupted political culture. A number of Illinois counties have also which is the Midwestern state adopted a version of that same form of government which is based on the use of bordering Illinois with the second trained, professional, non-political administrative officers. largest number of such governments. Despite reform efforts, Illinois is still considered by most observers to have one of Clearly, the number of local governments in the nation’s most corrupt political systems. After the massive corruption uncovered Illinois is not only very large, but it is well in the City Treasurer’s Office in Dixon in 2012, that community quickly hired a beyond the number of such governments professional city manager to clean up its affairs. used in other states. Is this a problem? library services and a similar number How excessive is Illinois’ local Opinions are mixed on whether having established separate park districts. Over government system? so many governments is a problem. The 800 local communities established separate According to the Illinois Comptroller’s Illinois Policy Institute, a private, “Good fire protection districts. In all, the number office, which keeps the State’s official Government” research organization, has of such districts that were created in this records on local governments, as of found that: fashion numbers in the thousands. At the March 2013 there were 45 different time of establishment, each such district types of local governments in the state Illinois has the most units of local made sense locally and was supported by of Illinois comprising a total of 8,466 government of any state in the country… local leaders and citizens. local governmental units. Using Census The result is higher costs for Illinoisans. Bureau numbers, Figure 2 (on the next Local government is primarily financed This strategy for limiting government was page) compares the number of Illinois through local property taxes, and Illinois’ used over and over, not just by different local governments, first, with the number of high number of governments contributes communities, but often by the same governments in the other four states having to the state having the second highest communities. The result: like Glenview, the largest number of such governments, property tax rates in the nation. (Emphasis most Illinois communities are governed and, second, with the number of such added.) by a crazy-quilt patchwork of local governments in the Midwestern states Multiple layers of government also make governments, many of which are almost bordering on Illinois. The numbers in it harder for citizens to participate actively invisible to local voters. Figure 2 show that: in the democratic process, which can lead 1. Illinois has approximately 35 percent to public corruption. Illinois is the third- more units of local government than most-corrupt state in the country.1 CENTER FOR GOVERNMENTAL STUDIES CENTER FOR GOVERNMENTAL STUDIES Northern Illinois University 3 policyprofiles Figure 2: Number of Local Governments by State By offering counties, cities, and villages an optional home rule system with A. Number of Governments in the Five States with the Most Local Governments more flexible powers, the 1970 Illinois State Local Governments Constitution attempted to slow the Illinois 6,963 creation of new governmental units. But Texas 5,147 the problems posed by the large number Pennsylvania 4,897 of local governments already in existence California 4,425 were not addressed in the convention. Kansas 3,826 Much progress has been made in recent B. Illinois Local Governments Compared to its Neighbors years consolidating local school districts. Once numbered in the thousands, the Illinois 6,963 number of school districts in Illinois had Missouri 3,768 been reduced to 867 by 2013. But the school Wisconsin 3,128 consolidation process cannot be readily Michigan 2,875 applied to other kinds of local governments. Indiana 2,709 Iowa 1,947 Are there other ways of reducing the Kentucky 1,338 number of governments? Source: U.S. Census of Governments. Adapted from Illinois Policy Institute Research Report, November 2013 Consolidating governments has been suggested as a means of eliminating duplication of services and moving toward On the other hand, in a recent Policy Regardless, voter control of local leaner, more cost effective government Profiles, “Local Government Structure governments is obviously impaired when systems. This led the Illinois General and Public Expenditures in Illinois: Does there are so many local governments that Assembly, in 2002, to create The Local Governmental Structure Matter?” Norman the vast majority of voters are unaware Government Consolidation Commission Walzer and Bethany Burns examined the of their existence. If voters are unaware which recommended in its 2005 report multiplicity of local governments in Illinois of what governments are serving them, that Illinois provide incentives to local and the effects of governmental structure on the ultimate purpose of democratic governments “to centralize and consolidate financing public services.2 They reported government is not being fully realized.
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