Where did all the Wheeling Twp. savings go?

After months of telling the voters of Wheeling Township that they were going to save money and eliminate waste by abolishing their Road District, the majority of the Wheeling Township board recently approved a new snowplow contact that will result in the township spending over $23,000 more on snow plowing for the 2016-2017 season than it did for the 2015-2016 season - a 64 percent increase in total costs.

How did this happen? Our former Highway Commissioner had for years negotiated an intergovernmental agreement with Northfield Township to plow our roads. For reasons that are known only to the majority of the Township Board, this year they decided to abandon this agreement and instead put the snowplow contract out to bid. As a result, the "low" bid was substantially higher than our 2015-2016 intergovernmental agreement - and the cost difference will, of course, be borne by the taxpayer.

The new snowplow contract further demonstrates that the abolition of the Road District was never about saving money.

"But aren't we going to at least save the $32,000 in Road District salaries now that the Road District is gone?" you may ask.

Not quite. For one, the township has decided to retain the Deputy Highway Commissioner and his salary. Further, the increase in snowplow costs exceeds the annual salary, and pension, of our former Highway Commissioner and the township is continuing to hire new employees.

So despite the promise to save $91,000 in salaries (a false figure that was almost three times the combined salary of all Road District employees), it is abundantly clear that abolishing the Road District has resulted, and will continue to result, in an increase in costs for the taxpayers of Wheeling Township.

Robert Hoban

Mount Prospect