There are not two sides to every story.
Sometimes facts are undisputed. Sometimes there are three or more vantage points worth considering.
But sometimes the inbox delivers an unsolicited point-counterpoint example of exactly the type of fundamental politics that ought to command attention in Springfield.
The subject is township consolidation. Former McHenry Township Trustee Bob Anderson wrote in support of House Bill 2515, which would dissolve all townships where the population doesn’t reach 500, including any road districts entirely inside such townships. Under the proposal, there would be two years between the law taking effect and all rights and duties of the affected taxing bodies being transferred to the respective counties, which would be allowed to levy taxes on the affected properties to cover their new expenses.
HB 2515 also provides that “elected and appointed township officers and road commissioners shall cease to hold office on the date of dissolution of the township and road districts, no longer be compensated, and do not have legal recourse relating to the ceasing of their elected or appointed positions upon the ceasing of their offices.”
A frequent advocate for reducing the number of taxing bodies in Illinois, Anderson said the law would affect 262 townships in 69 of the 85 counties that still have township governments and eliminate the need for 1,834 paid trustees, supervisors, clerks and road commissioners.
Kankakee County resident Patrick Pahl is concerned about Senate Bill 2217, which has a much broader target of eliminating all townships with populations of 4,999 or less. This bill is a bit more of a blunt instrument, simply calling for stipulating all such counties “are dissolved and must either consolidate with an adjacent township or the county containing the geographic boundaries of the dissolving township,” apparently effective immediately.
Under the “Save our Townships” banner, Pahl notes that 1,426 Illinois townships maintain more than 72,000 miles of roads. He argues there is research showing township highway maintenance is more cost-efficient than the county level and said some Central and Southern Illinois counties turn to townships to service county roads.
Both bills sit in their respective chambers’ Rules committees and haven’t drawn co-sponsors. Neither may pick up steam during the current session, but I’ve been around long enough to know forced consolidation is a passionate concern for activists in either camp.
MAILBAG: Reader GG, regarding giving teachers school supply spending allowances, wrote to spotlight the National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources (NAEIR.org), a nonprofit agency he said works “discretely with major corporations (Crayola, Office Depot, Avery, etc.)” to collect donated merchandise for its membership: other nonprofit groups who pay only handling and processing fees. Founded in 1977 in Northfield, NAEIR moved to Galesburg in 1986.
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/shawmedia/55aeee77-0609-4323-931a-c6686fff01e6.png)