Letter: You should be talking about government consolidation

If you live in Illinois, you should be talking about government consolidation or elimination. Why?

Illinois, too many units of local government: 8,529. (Source: Illinois Comptroller.)
Forty-six states have have less than 2,500 local governments.
Illinois’ effective property tax rate: 2.2%, second in nation to New Jersey’s 2.25%.
Median property tax bill Illinois: $4,529.
Median property tax bill U.S.: $2,551.
Illinois government agencies: one for every 1,800 people.
California government agencies: one for every 8,800 people.
Illinois has 45 types of government (population 12,830,652).
Texas has three types of government (population 29,143,505).
Most of all, if Illinois eliminated 6,000 units of its 8,529 units local government, it would still have more than the 46 states that have fewer than 2,500 units to fund!

Illinois government consolidation or elimination should begin with the 1800′s townships, which most states do not have as well as 17 of Illinois’ 102 counties. Illinois taxpayers are forced to fund 1,425 township governments, 1,391 township road districts and 321 township multi-township assessment districts. This represents over 36% of Illinois’ 8,529 units of local government. Township supervisors, township assessors, township road commissioners, township clerks and township trustees – each township has four trustees – do not want you to know this, or that 90% of township’s revenues come from your property tax bills; this is way more than what county, municipal and other governments collect.

Bob Anderson

Wonder Lake