McHenry County Board chairman, state’s attorney backing Algonquin Township abolition petition

McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks and State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally are gathering signatures in an effort to put a question on the April 2021 ballot that could abolish Algonquin Township, according to a Tuesday news release.

This is the latest effort locally to target townships in local government consolidation attempts.

The petition drive will need to collect at least 445 signatures from Algonquin Township voters by Jan. 4 to certify the referendum for the April 6 ballot, according to the release.

“McHenry County’s crushing property tax burden and the grim economics of the COVID-19 pandemic aside, the vast majority of Algonquin Township lies within municipal boundaries. Voters should be afforded the opportunity to decide whether their township government is still needed on that principle alone,” Franks, D-Marengo, said in the release.

Franks has repeatedly pushed Algonquin Township officials to consider asking voters whether the form of local government should be dissipated, to no avail, according to the release. In 2018, Franks urged the township board to ask voters to abolish the elected office of the township highway department after reports emerged of expensive legal costs and questionable personnel decisions.

In November 2019, the Algonquin Township board was set to discuss a township abolition ballot measure, but ultimately removed it from the agenda, according to the release. In July, Franks requested the township board put the township dissolution question to voters in the Nov. 3 election, but the township officials did not discuss the matter.

“Illinois has more layers of government than any other state – and Illinois, not surprisingly, has some of the highest overall tax rates. It’s time for voters to have a say,” Kenneally said in the release.

Earlier this year, McHenry Township voters overwhelmingly favored keeping the form of local government after area activists who want the township to remain intact petitioned to certify a ballot measure asking whether it should be eliminated.

Their strategy to hold a vote on the matter in this year’s spring referendum in order to prevent the McHenry Township Board of Trustees from asking to abolish the township in the November election proved successful. State law prohibits the same ballot question from appearing in two elections within 23 months of each other, and a McHenry County judge in August agreed with County Clerk Joe Tirio’s decision to reject the measure because of the timeline.

McHenry Township trustees, including longtime township critic Bob Anderson, are appealing that ruling, in hopes they may be able to place the question on abolishing the local government in another, sooner upcoming election.

Nunda Township voters this year also declined by a considerable margin to eliminate that government in a ballot measure that proposed doing so in 2037.

While unsuccessful lately, attempts to get rid of townships in McHenry County have had some benefits, such as pushing township officials to adapt and be more creative, Wonder Lake village Trustee Dennis Palys said in an interview earlier this month. He said McHenry Township in recent years has absorbed maintenance duties for roads previously handled by residential subdivisions, often at substantial costs to homeowners.

“One of the reasons the township took over the roads in my personal opinion is because they’ve been under attack and they want to exist,” Palys said. “Now most of the private roads are gone, and the township has taken over. Some credit belongs to the people like Bob Anderson, forcing them to do something else. There was a time when the township was to me worthless but they seem to be doing much better.”