State
Representatives Sheri Jesiel (R-Winthrop Harbor), Ed Sullivan
(R-Mundelein), and Barbara Wheeler (R-Crystal Lake) have joined with
other elected officials from Lake and McHenry Counties to sponsor and
pass legislation in the Illinois House to bring greater efficiency to
county and local governments.
Illinois
has more layers of government than any other state in the United
States, creating one of the most burdensome property tax scenarios
nationwide. House Bill 229, which passed the House today, allows for
duplicative bodies of government to be dissolved. This initiative has
already been utilized in DuPage County to great effect.
“County
officials and residents in both Lake and McHenry Counties have been
frustrated by so many overlapping units of government for a long
time,” said Wheeler. “We’ve seen how helpful this efficiency
initiative has been in DuPage County and I’m very pleased we will
now be able to benefit from it in Lake and McHenry Counties as well.”
HB 229
grants authority to Lake and McHenry Counties to pass ordinances,
which may be ratified by referendum, to remove certain units of local
government that perform the same duties as other units of local
government, or lack appropriate accountability. The purpose of this
is to increase efficiency in local government and help lessen the
heavy tax burden already on the backs of families in Lake and McHenry
Counties. In addition to being supported by a number of local leaders
in both counties, it is also supported by the Better Government
Association, Illinois Association of County Board Members, the
Illinois Association of Realtors, and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency
for Planning.
“Efficiency
in government has been a punch line in Illinois for a long time now,”
said Sullivan. “The reality is that efficiency isn’t just a
problem in Springfield, but throughout Illinois. While we still need
to do much more, this effort has been working in DuPage County and
now we have the chance to benefit from it as well. I want to thank
Lake County Board Chairman, Aaron Lawlor, for encouraging our support
on this measure, and also my colleagues who helped pass it.”
“I
would like to echo the comments of my colleagues; residents have been
asking for some relief from the heavy tax burden that is causing so
many of our families and business to leave Illinois,” said Jesiel.
“We have a lot of work to do in state government to help solve this
problem, but if we can empower our county government and voters to
directly help make government operate more efficiently, I’m happy
to support it.”
DuPage
County was a pilot for this effort beginning in 2013, where a review
of some 400 taxing bodies found that most suffered from some form of
unaccountability or duplicative service. That assessment found issues
with local units failing to meet county standards for issues such as
ethics policies, sharing of essential service information, access of
records to the public, and that many local units had duplicate
services and contracts leading to increased costs.
“I
want to thank the Representatives for supporting this legislation,”
said Aaron Lawlor, Lake County Board Chairman. “House Bill 229
gives Lake County the ability to continue our efforts to make county
and local government more efficient by finding new opportunities for
consolidation of shared services.”
For
further information, and to track the progress of House Bill 229 in
the Senate, please visit www.ilga.gov.
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